The Pull to the Light Side
by Erin Means Peace
Summary: Kylo Ren goes on an undercover mission to Yavin IV where he can gather information about the Resistance from the families of the members that live there. But instead, he may have gained a new tether to the Light Side, Poe's sister Iris. After the mission he is a changed man but can love be enough to pull Ben Solo back from the Dark Side after how far he has fallen?
1. The First Steps Out of the Shadows

A little boy and a girl run down a dirt pathway in the jungle, away from their parents and towards their home on the planet Yavin IV. "Slow down Poe!" The little girl yells after the boy, her blonde hair streaming behind her as she runs but then she stumbles a bit and almost trips.

"Run faster Iris!" Poe calls after her as he continues to run faster down the path. He runs past a big tree in front of their house and cheers. "Ha! I beat you!" He mocks as Iris trudges down the path downtrodden.

"Why do big brothers always win?" She asks and Poe just smiles.

"Because we're older and better than little sisters." He mocks and Iris stamps her foot on the ground.

"I'm only two years younger than you!" Iris points out.

"I'm still older! And faster than you." Poe says as her runs back up the path since their parents called them back. But as Iris was about to go back she noticed something shimmering in the tree in a crevice as the sun lit it. It was a dark purple color, and it shined in the light and it looked like there was something swirling in it. Iris smiled and picked up a rock lying by one of the roots and started to hit the wood around the crystal to free it but it didn't work, and she couldn't get the crystal out. But then she could have sworn she felt something behind her. And a reflection of a pale blue glow. She gasped and turned around but there was nothing there. She heard a clatter on the ground and then turned around to find the crystal dislodged from the tree and she smiled and picked it up.

"It's beautiful..." She says and runs it around in her hand.

"Iris!" She heard her father call and she ran back up the path, with the crystal in hand back up to her father.

~About 30 years or so later~

Kylo Ren and General Hux made their way down the halls of the First Order ship, Snoke had called them both in for a meeting to discuss their next plan of attack, after the Starkiller had been destroyed. They both entered the throne room and bowed their heads before the big projection of their leader. "Greetings Supreme Leader Snoke." They both said in unison. Snoke nodded in appreciation of their address to him. "What do you wish us to do for the First Order to make it stronger so that we may control the galaxy?" Kylo Ren asks. Snoke smiles at him.

"I can sense your anger fueling you more than it ever has Kylo Ren." He says to him and lets out a very faint chuckle in amusement. "You're mad that the girl beat you, and that the base that was so expertly designed and wielded such glorious power was destroyed by a small band of resistance fighters." He says and Kylo lets out a roar of anger and slashes his lightsabre through a pole nearby and continues to do so before Snoke stands up and orders him to halt with more power than Hux has ever heard from him before and he is startled a bit while Kylo stands with his lightsabre on and breathing heavily. Snoke sits back down. "With such anger burning inside you, I doubt you will ever feel the pull to the Light side again." He says and gives a small smile to Kylo.

"I will never go back." He says, his voice deep through his mask. "There is nothing for me on the Light side of the Force. The Dark Side is the only path that will lead me to my fullest potential, for power and glory." He says and Snoke rises again.

"Excellent." He says. "Because the task I am about to assign you may have tempted you to go back to the light. But now I am confident that you will be able to stand by us, and become powerful and strong with the First Order."

"What do you command me to do?" He asks.

"I need someone to do some surveillance for me." Snoke says. "On a planet that many people have tipped us off to believe holds many members of the resistance and their families. I need you to go down to the planet and see if what they say is true."

"But Supreme Leader why can't some storm troopers do that?"

"Because they have been trained and conditioned to serve the First Order since they were born. They know nothing of the way of life outside of the Order and will not be able to blend in so easily." Snoke explains.

"Why am I not capable of doing it Supreme Leader?" Hux asks.

"Because you would be too easily seduced by the way of life of the resistance." Snoke says. "You don't have the depth of commitment to the Dark Side that Kylo Ren does and you may fall prey to the Resistance." Hux is about to speak again but Snoke holds up his hand and silences him. "Oh shut up you know it's true." Hux sighs and bows his head and Hux turns to Kylo Ren. "After you killed your father you have no remaining ties to the Light Side. And although I hate to bring it up you do have a past with their side of this fight. So you know their ways of life and how to blend in. All I need is for you to find out as much intelligence as you can about the resistance from the people living on this planet and then we will know a great deal more about them and be able to destroy them once and for all and take control of the galaxy." Snoke explains and Kylo Ren sighs.

"I will do this, to serve you Supreme Leader." Kylo Ren says and Snoke smiles. The First Order ship enters hyperspace to go to Yavin IV, the planet that Snoke was talking about and Kylo Ren is in his room looking at the clothes that were prepared for him to wear to blend in Because all of his Sith clothes would give him away instantly as someone not to be trusted. He surveyed the garments and sighed. He didn't like how they looked. They were robes of different shades of brown. He reluctantly removed his helmet and changed out of his black clothes and adorned these new garments and looked at himself in his mirror. He sneered at his reflection. He hoped to get this mission over with quickly so that he could get back to his training to become a fully fledged Sith Lord on the Dark Side. He went to his bed and looked at the things that were left for him to carry with him and a satchel. Some things that most travelers would carry with them, like food and a water canteen, and underneath all of that his lightsabre, should he need to use it to defend himself.

"Kylo Ren we have reached Yavin IV. Are you ready to make your descent down to the-" Hux says then sees Kylo in his disguise and bites his lip to hold back a laugh. But eventually one slips out and then Kylo force chokes him and holds him up.

"I will not be the source of your laughter or anyone else's during this mission!" He sneers at Hux. "I am very well aware that I look like a fool in these clothes but we all make sacrifices for the First Order. And this is one of mine." He says then lets Hux go and he collapses on the ground, gasping for air. He picks up his satchel and slings it over his shoulder. "I am prepared to make my descent to Yavin IV." He says and then roughly picks up Hux by his arm and leads him out of his room and to a carrier ship to take him down. The carrier ship flies over Yavin IV and then finds a clearing in the jungle to land in and let off Kylo Ren.

"There is a colony a few miles off from here." A storm trooper informs him as the doors open and Kylo Ren steps out into the jungle. "You will find some shelter there. And we will be checking in with you every day with General Hux to collect any information you have for us and hand it over to Supreme Leader Snoke." They say and Kylo nods to them.

"Very well. Now be off." He says and waves his hand to them and the carrier doors close again and the ship takes off and heads back to the First Order ship. "Hopefully I don't have to be here too long." He says and looks at the jungle around him and sighs and walks down what appeared to be a path. He looked around at the jungles and was relatively amazed. He had never seen so much color all in one area before, and so many living little creatures. But these were all completely irrelevant to the mission so he ignored them as soon as he felt his mind start to wander. He even stepped on a few beetles that crossed his path and gave a satisfactory smile as he did so.

After walking for what seemed like ages for him he came across a little town. It had buildings that seemed to be built out of sandstone brick and wood. There were surprisingly a lot of people in this little colony, all bustling about the colony and buying various things at markets. Kylo had no idea where to begin his search. As he walked through the crowded streets searching for some sort of starting point people bumped into him, luckily not seeming to pay any attention to him, and those that did only gave him a curious stare that lasted a few minutes and then moved on. _Not many travelers come here._ He thought. He was knocked out of his train of thought when another villager knocked into him and he had to use every ounce of strength to keep from being aggressive towards the villager. _People on the Light Side don't get so angry over little things._ He reminds himself. The sun was now at it's peak in the day and he holds his hand over his brow to shade his eyes from it. He hadn't seen this much light in awhile his helmet blocked out a lot of it and there is a reason the Dark Side is called the Dark Side. He makes his way our of the crowds and over to a shaded area in an alley by a store where he could think about he would find some information and where he would spend his nights. As he slumped against the wall at the back corner of the store he relaxes a bit but then is broken from his train of thought again when someone bumps into him and his temper snaps and he turns on them with a viscous look on his face. "What's your-" He stops and his features soften when he sees who is before him. A girl-no, a woman who looked around his age and arguably the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. She had long, wavy blonde hair, that reached down just past her shoulder blades. She was about a head smaller than him and wore a dress-like dark green sleeveless tunic. It had slits in it than ran up the sides of her legs, showing dark brown pants that matched her brown boots and she wore a brown belt around her slim waist. She wore some white gloves that went up to her elbows, similar to Rey's and her light fair skin with the lightest tint of color peaked out from under them. He searched her face and was at a loss for words. Her light blue eyes were mesmerizing and captured his dark ones and held his gaze while she looked into his dark pools of brown until she broke the silence with her sweet voice.

"Who are you?" She asks. "And what are you doing here? I've never seen you around before." Kylo stammers a bit before finding his voice to answer her.

"My name is K-Ben." He says quickly before saying Kylo. His eyes widened a bit when he realized he used the name that he had previously before joining the Dark Side. _Why did I tell her that name?_ He questions himself before continuing. "I traveled here from Jakku. I've been searching for information about my family, who are with the Resistance about where they might be so that I can join them in the fight against the First Order." He says and mentally pats himself on the back for coming up with an excellent lie. He even smiles a bit which nowadays was a rare thing for him. But in this girls' presence he just couldn't help himself. Being around her made him feel a strange tightening sensation in his chest, although he was unsure if he liked it or not.

"Your family is with the Resistance too?" The girl asks and Kylo smiles a bit more, with satisfaction now that he has found a possible victim for his mission. "My brother Poe is their best pilot! We're so proud of him! What does your family do?" _Wait a minute..._ He thought. _Poe...Poe Dameron?! Is this the sister of Leia's most trusted and best fighter pilot?! She must know everything there is to know about the Resistance! I've hit the motherload. Snoke will be so proud of me!_ He thinks then grins at the girl. He was about to use the force right then and there on her and get all the information he could ever need and want out of her, but then he remembered that that would blow his cover, and she might not even know that much. She could have other family or siblings who knew more. He would have to wait to gain her trust before getting the information his dark heart so desperately desired. She was merely his ticket to getting it.

"Yes they are. My mother is in Medical, while my father is sort of a spy/smuggler who goes around collecting parts for the X-Wings and gathers information about the First Order's whereabouts." He says and hopes that sounds believable which he was pretty sure it did. "What's your name? And is your brother Poe Dameron?"

"Yes. He is. And my name is Iris." She says. "I'm his little sister."

"Do you know a place where I can stay while I'm here?" He asks Iris.

"You can stay with me and my parents. We have a spare bedroom since Poe isn't home right now." She says and the two of them start to walk out of the alleyway and into the sunlight. She practically glowed in it. Kylo was almost put into another trance but he pushed that thought aside and remembered the mission.

"Thank you. That's very kind of you." He says to her and smiles a bit. _Why do I keep smiling around her?_ Kylo thinks. _I'm not doing this voluntarily I just can't help but smile whenever I'm around her. Why is this happening?!_ He questions himself as they walk through the streets.

"I just need to pick up some things from a few stores and then we'll head over." She says. "Is that okay Ben?"

"Yes." He says and follows her around. For some reason he wasn't as bothered as he thought he would be when she called him that name. It sounded right coming from her. Although he quickly discarded that thought and followed her through the market. He noted how she acted around the shop keepers and market stands where she picked up various fruits and vegetables. He made a mental note to copy these mannerisms later on when he would meet she and Poe's parents. He realized he had to try to go back to his old ways before he became Kylo Ren. _That definitely won't be easy._ He thought to himself as he looked at Iris. He had completely given up the Light Side. There was no going back. These little feelings he was starting to have around Iris were just mere uncomfortable feelings of being in a foreign environment. The sneers and strange looks he got from some of the shop keepers only cemented that notion, and fueled his anger. _I'll destroy them all one day..._ He thought. Then Iris gently touched his bicep and all of his dark thoughts seemed to be pushed aside for a moment. Just for a moment as he looked at her face.

"That's all the stuff I needed to get. We can head home now." She says and removes her hand and Kylo's dark thoughts returned.

"Yes. Let's go home." He says and grins at her as she leads him out of town.

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 **A/N:** Let me know what you guys think of this story! I looked up as much as I can about Yavin IV from the internet and about Poe's family but if you guys who have read this story know more let me know and I will be more than happy to put that information in the story! I hope you guys like this idea that I've come up with and I will write the next chapter when I have time. Since Disney owns Star Wars now, I may throw in some scenes that are similar to some Disney songs...You'll know what I mean when you read it in the next few chapters. Please leave a review!


	2. Meeting the Family

Kylo and Iris walked out of town and down a jungle path. Kylo watched her as she walked in front of him, her long blonde hair waving in the gentle breeze and along with the sway of her hips as she walked. As the sun set the jungle was alive with creatures bustling about. Kylo looked up and noticed two birds fly into a tree and then settle down into a nest and cuddle with each other to go to sleep for the approaching night. Kylo scoffed and looked away from them. _Love._ He thought to himself. _The weakest emotion that exists. The Supreme Leader told me that, so it must be true._ He thinks then looks at Iris and notices her slowing down her stride and staring at him curiously. He could tell just by the look on her face that she was looking at his scar. The scar he had gotten from that force sensitive scavenger girl. _Rey_ He thinks about her name and feels his anger starting to grow again, he could have lashed out right then and there if Iris's voice hadn't pulled him back from his dark thoughts. "Where did you get that scar?" She asks him and he sighs.

"It's a long story." Kylo mutters under his breath and looks away from her. "I'd rather not talk about it." He says and Iris nods in acknowledgement.

"We're almost home." She says and Kylo's dark thoughts return and he smirks, knowing that now he's closer to getting a gold mine of information about the Resistance. _This girl trusts strangers too much_ He thinks _She is so foolish, just like all those daft weaklings with the Resistance._ Soon they both come into a clearing and Kylo Ren stops in his tracks when he gets an overwhelming sense of the force in the area. He looks around, trying to see where it's coming from but all that's there is a dumb tree and a house. Two people come out of it and rush to embrace Iris.

"Oh thank goodness you're home!" The woman Kylo assumed to be Iris's mother exclaims. "You were out so much later than we expected, we thought something might have happened to you."

"Don't worry mom I'm fine." Iris assures her mother and then turns back to Kylo. "I took a bit longer to get the groceries because on my way into town I got distracted by some flowers." She says and pulls out a bouquet she arranged for her mother. "And then I met Ben." She says and gestures to Kylo. "He's traveling to find his family in the Resistance so I said that he could stay with us for awhile."

"Well I'm sure that's fine." Iris's father says and approaches Kylo and holds out his hand for him. It takes Kylo a moment but then he quickly remembers he's supposed to shake it and he does so forcefully, with a firm grip, like his father had taught him to do. He feels a slight pang in his chest at the thought of his father but then quickly pushes it aside. "We're just about to have dinner, why don't you come in?" He offers, and Kylo feels uneasy with all of this kindness he's being shown.

"Thank 's very kind of you." He says softly and Iris's father arches an eyebrow.

"He's very shy isn't he." Her father says and claps his hand on Kylo's shoulder, making him jump at the contact and her father laughs. _How dare he touch me and then laugh about it like it's a joke!_ He exclaims in his head and is about to grab his lightsabre when he hears Iris's laughter and then forgets why he was even searching through his satchel for it in the first place. "My name is Kes and this is my wife Shara." Kes introduces.

"It's nice to meet you Ben." Shara says and Kylo shakes her hand a bit gentler since she looked a bit more fragile than her husband.

Their house was very simple and homey. There were family pictures on the walls, and a big fire place with a sofa in the middle of the room, and then a kitchen where Iris was helping her mother chop up some vegetables. It was a simple, nice family. Or at least it appeared that way, Kylo reminded himself that they were Resistance and that this simple and homey atmosphere was just a facade for their disgusting rebel ways. "I'll take you to Poe's room." Iris's father says to Kylo. "You can sleep there during the night. My name is Kes by the way." He says as he leads Kylo around a corner to where there were bedrooms. Kes opens up one door and lets Kylo step in. "I hope you don't mind." He says.

"No it's perfect." Kylo says honestly as he steps inside and sets his satchel down on Poe's bed.

"That's great!" Kes says. "I'll let you know when it's time for dinner." He says. Kylo smiles at him and then when Kes turns around to leave Kylo's hand shoots out and he grabs Kes's mind forcefully, probing it for any information he may have on the Resistance. Quickly and efficiently Kylo sorted through every thought this man had of Poe, hoping to get information. But sadly he did not find much before his eyes started to water when he saw memories of a young Poe and Kes, doing father-son things like playing catch, going fishing, learning how to fly a plane, all of the things he wished he could do with his father before he was sent away to train with Luke. He let him go and watched him crumple to the ground and he rushed over to his side and leaned over him as Iris and her mother came running over.

"Kes! Honey are you alright?" Shara asks and Iris looks worried as she feels her father over for injuries.

"Ben did you see anything happen?" She asks him and looks at him with a frantic and worried expression. "Did he get hit on the head or something?"

"I-uh...I-no I didn't see anything." Kylo stammers, not sure what to say in this situation. Kes groans and sits up and Kylo offers his hand to help pull him up and Iris and Shara pick him up and support him, and they lead him into the main living room to sit down by the fire.

"i just had the worst headache." Kes says and Iris goes to the kitchen and comes back with a cool towel and a cloth to place on his forehead to cool it down.

"I think he has a fever." She says when she places the cloth on his forehead. "It feels like he's burning up."

"It will go down soon." Kylo assures Shara and Iris.

"How do you know?" Shara asks and Kylo blushes.

"My mother is a doctor. She's dealt with stuff like this before." Kylo explains.

"So what happened to him?" Iris asks.

"He's suffered a heat flash." Kylo explains and Kes groans.

"It has been really hot today." Kes says. "That would explain it." Kylo lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Well you just rest up now honey, Iris do you mind finishing up dinner while I take care of Kes?" Shara asks and Iris nods.

"Of course. Ben should you help her? You do seem to know a lot about medical stuff." Iris asks him and he blushes again.

"Well I've never actually practiced it." He says and blushes. "Mainly what he needs now is just to rest and I'm sure he'll be fine." He says.

"Then do you mind helping Iris make dinner?" Shara asks as she presses the damp cloth to her husband's forehead. Kylo looks at Iris and decides he could use the time to help gain her trust.

"Not at all." He says and follows Iris into the kitchen. She continued to cut some vegetables and Kylo looked around for something to do. All his meals were brought to him by servants in the First Order. He hadn't been inside a kitchen in a very long time. Iris looks up at him with those dazzling blue eyes and she gently takes his wrist and pulls him over to her. He blushes at the contact as she hands him the knife.

"Can you cut up these vegetables for me?" She asks and he nods and starts to cut them, very poorly and slowly but he tries, in order to maintain his cover. He looks over his shoulder every now and then to see Iris working, and can't help but notice how beautiful she is. Everything about her just looked so pure and innocent. Probably because she's been stuck on this planet her whole life. She doesn't know anything else. Just this simple, worthless life. He almost pitied her for her lack of knowledge of the Universe.

"How long has your family lived here?" Kylo asks as Iris prepares some sort of meat.

"They came to live here about a year before Poe was born. So about 33 years." Iris says and Kylo stops cutting the vegetables.

"That's a long time to spend on one planet." He says and Iris sighs. "You've never been anywhere else?" Iris shakes her head.

"No I haven't been anywhere else. It's safe here on this planet, and with the threat of the First Order, my parents don't want us to go anywhere else. They haven't come to this planet yet. And we won't leave until they do." Iris explains and Kylo nods and continues to horribly cut the vegetables. _If only she knew._ He thought as she looked over his shoulder to see what a horrible job he was doing at cutting. He looked between her and the vegetables and felt relieved when a smile spread across her radiant face and she laughed. "You're not very good at cutting vegetables are you?" Iris asks him and he blushes and she laughs and takes the knife and tries to correct his mistakes.

"I suppose not." Kylo says and forces a smile to try to seem nice and innocent. It didn't work and it just made Iris look at him funny.

"You're strange." She says thoughtfully and Kylo was about to feel insulted by that but then she continued "I like it." And if he had been drinking something, he would have spit it all out. A beautiful, and innocent and pure girl, likes him?! Clearly she must be joking.

"Really?" He asks and she nods.

"You're different, and I can't wait to hear about all the places you've been. And all the things you've seen." Iris says and then puts the meet in an oven and Kylo's eyes widen when he realizes he'll have to get creative. Next thing he knew he was sitting at a dinner table with Iris's family and they were asking him for those very stories.

"Well it was quite the adventure." Kylo begins as he tells them a childhood story, that was actually true. He wasn't a creative person and couldn't come up with anything else. "I was about eight years old and my dad thought I should learn how to fly our family's ship." He starts and Kes, who was feeling much better starts to laugh.

"Oh boy I can tell where this is going." He says and Iris laughs too, and that makes Kylo smile a bit and push him to continue to tell his story.

"So I get into the pilot's chair and my dad is behind me and he's holding onto the controls as the ship starts to fly. We get up to a good altitude and then he lets go and next thing I know I'm flying the ship on my own. But the thought of it is so terrifying to me, that the moment he says 'You're doing great son!' I start screaming and then the ship nose dives and my dad grabs the controls and tries to pull us back up but I have such a death grip on the controls that he can't move them so he has to hold onto my hands and steer the ship with me like I'm some sort of a puppet, frozen in place while he steers the ship around to try to get us back on course, while I'm seeing my life flash before my eyes, so then I start to fight against my dad and we start doing somersaults and these really sharp turns in the air and then my dad pulls back hard on the controls with me and we crash land in the woods, and he goes to throw up outside while my mom comes running up to us, scolding my dad for being an irresponsible parent and then snuggling me in her arms since I was still shaking and I got to just stay in bed and get whatever I wanted for the rest of the day." He says and Iris was still laughing, which made Kylo genuinely smile a bit more. He learned that he liked her laugh. It was like something that he was dying to hear but he never realized he wanted to.

"Wow so your mom put your dad in time out." Shara said and Kylo smiles.

"Pretty much." He says and everyone at the table laughs. It had been a nice dinner. Everyone was polite and passed him stuff and he passed them food, and he constantly apologized for his lack of cutting ability when it came to the vegetables, but they all forgave him for it. Forgiving, that's something that no one has done for him in awhile.

"Well it's getting late. We should all probably hit the hay." Kes says and Shara agrees and they all stand up and say goodnight to each other, even Kylo and then he goes back into Poe's room and leans up against the door and sighs. Time to get to work. All the light he experienced during the day washed away as he tore the room apart, using his hands and the Force if he could to find any files, information or anything he could about the Resistance. After about an hour of searching he only found little pilot knick knacks and stupid stuff from when he was a kid. He took a little action figure he had of a pilot and in frustration threw it against the wall and took deep breaths to try to control his anger. He didn't want to wake up anyone in the house. But it appeared he didn't need to. Because he looked out the window and saw someone leave the house with a light, and go into the jungle. He put on his boots quickly and went outside to follow the light. Maybe someone was going to a secret Resistance meeting? Or going somewhere where they kept a lot of information. He took his ligthsabre with him and followed the person stealthily as they walked down the path. Much to his dark dismay it was only Iris walking to a clearing and sitting down on a blanket and staring up at the sky. He stared at her form, shining in the starlight and felt himself get pulled into a sort of trance. He felt as if he was being pulled to her and he rose and approached her as she picked up her arm and started to do something with it then heard him approaching and immediately stopped.

"What are you doing out here?" Kylo asks and Iris blushes.

"Nothing. Just staring up at the stars." Iris says and looks at Kylo Ren and then gestures for him to sit down next to her. He does so and she smiles at him. "I liked the story you told at dinner tonight."

"It wasn't anything special." Kylo lies and Iris shakes her head.

"Any time you get to spend with one of your parents is special." She says and Kylo stares at her for a moment and takes in all her beauty, her pale complexion, her soft looking blonde hair, and those blue eyes, full of the starlight. He felt things stirring inside of him that should not be stirring inside of a Sith Lord. _She's so beautiful..._ He thinks. _She has the face of an angel..._ Then he notices a sort of sadness in her expression and realizes that she can see the tears starting to form in his eyes, when he starts to have these light thoughts about his parents and her beauty. He turns away from her suddenly and tries to focus on the darkness. "Ben?" She asks softly, in that sweet melodic voice of hers. "Are you okay?"

"I will be once I'm off of this planet." He says and then quickly runs away from her, and leaves her alone in the night and heads back to the house. She watches him leave and sighs and looks longingly back up at the sky. As he was leaving he felt a tug in his chest and groaned. He kept walking and then realized it was only getting tighter. "What's going on?" He groans. "I haven't felt this, since Snoke told me that the droid with the map to Skywalker was in the hands of my father-" He lets his hand drop from his chest as he remembers the name of the man he talked about in his story at dinner, who tried to teach him to fly the Millennium Falcon when he was eight, and how he failed him. And how he failed him again when he killed him that night on the Starkiller Base, when he fully committed to the dark side and vowed never to go back again. "Han Solo." After saying that name he realized what was happening to him, and he paled and his breathing grew heavy. "Oh no, not again." He mutters under his breath and rubs his chest and realizes what's happening to him. He looks up to the starry sky through the branches in the trees. "Forgive me." He says. "I'm feeling it again. The pull to the Light. But do not fear. I got rid of it once. I'll be able to do it again. I vowed the day I killed my father that I would never go back to the light. The darkness is the only path for me now. There's nothing for me on the light, without my father." He says then looks back down the path to the clearing where Iris was, and something inside him gave him a small flicker of hope that, there may in fact be a reason for him to return to the light. He pushed that thought aside and hurried back to the house.


	3. Falling for the Light

**A/N:** Hey guys! So I hope you all like this series! I would really like some feedback and reviews so if you like or don't like this story please let me know! I want to know what you guys think! Aside from that please enjoy this new chapter!

* * *

Kylo Ren was having a nightmare, but this time it wasn't about him not being as strong as Darth Vader and ultimately failing Snoke. It was about killing his father. There he was again, standing on the bridge, Han Solo in front of him, begging him to stop this violence, warning him of Snoke's plans for him, reminding him of his mother, trying to pull him back to the Light. But this time instead of his conflicted feelings tearing him apart he felt something different. He felt relieved, he was letting the Light take over, his darkness was leaving him, he was going back to the Light! It was almost too late before he realized what was happening to him and then he stabbed his father with his lightsaber and then he woke up in a cold sweat and shouted "No!". He looked around and he started to calm down a bit, he was in Poe's room, on Yavin IV. But then something made his heartbeat quicken more. "Why did I shout 'no'?" He mutters under his breath and runs his hand through his curly ivory hair. He contemplated on his emotions and felt the pull to the Light again and groaned. He squeezed his fists a few times and decided "I need to get this mission over with as fast as I can." There was a knock at the door.

"Ben? Are you awake? We heard you talking and a shout? Are you okay?" Iris asks from the other side of the door. Kylo notices the light streaming in from the window and realized that it must have been morning.

"I'm fine. Just give me a minute." He grumbles and digs the heels of his palms into his eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them.

"Okay. I made breakfast, so come get it while it's still hot." She says cheerfully from the other side of the door and then leaves. Kylo smiles softly at her cheerfulness.

"She's so innocent." He mutters to himself. "There's no darkness anywhere in her. She's pure light..." Then he frowns. "So why am I starting to grow fond of her?" He asks himself. He should loathe her for being so bright, but instead he found himself drawn to her. Why? All of this thinking started to grow doubts in his mind about his commitment to the Dark Side. As soon as he realized that he dismissed his thoughts of her and his dream and got up to get dressed for breakfast.

He wore the same clothes that he had on yesterday since he did not bring any others and he groggily stepped downstairs to find Iris cutting some sort of fruit for breakfast. She wore similar clothes to the ones she was wearing yesterday except the shirt was more of a tunic that wrapped in her front and she wasn't wearing her long grey sleeves. She smiled at him as he stepped into the doorway and offered him the other half of her fruit. He looked from her to the fruit suspiciously before giving her a soft smile in thanks and taking the fruit from her. As the piece was transferred from her hand to his their fingers brushed gently against each other. Kylo's heart sped up. It had been so long since he had touched someone gently, or someone had touched him in the same manner. Her skin was so soft and delicate like the rest of her. Pure, untouched by any darkness. He was amazed. He stared at her gently and noticed a blush starting to form on her cheeks. He furrowed his brow a bit in confusion but then realized it was because he was still touching her. He quickly took the fruit and pulled his hand away and turned his face so she wouldn't see his blush either. "I'm sorry I must have gotten lost in a daze." He mutters.

"It's alright...I didn't mind that much." Iris says softly and fiddles with her half of the fruit and stares at it as Kylo turns his head to look at her. He's about to ask her what she means by that but then her parents walk in.

"Good morning Ben and Iris!" Shara says and Iris smiles and goes to hug her parents. Ben starts to move out of the kitchen, figuring they won't want him around but then he feels someone grab his waist. He reacts quickly and jumps back away from Shara who had tried to hug him. They all stare at him in confusion as to why he seemed so alarmed by Shara's hug.

"Sorry I didn't expect you to do that. I've been traveling for awhile, and I've run into a lot of unfriendly people. It's been a long time since anyone as touched me in a non-violent manner. I wasn't expecting it." He apologizes and Shara hugs him again, and this time Kylo stands still and endures it, and slowly wraps his arms around her small frame and pats her back a bit.

"You poor thing!" She says to him. He looks over at Iris who seems to be looking upon him with pity as well. "Well don't worry! We will get you to the Resistance as soon as possible so we can find your family. I contacted General Leia last night and she said she's more than happy to help you find your family!"

"You did what!" Kylo exclaims in shock.

"I know isn't it great!" Kes says, thinking that Kylo's reaction was happy. "We just need to know your parents names and she can contact them and tell them that you're here and Poe's already on his way with some friends to come get you and bring you back to the Resistance base!" Kes says and Kylo gulps.

"That's wonderful." Kylo says softly and fakes a smile.

"Poe's coming home?" Iris asks and her face lights up and she squeals and hugs her father when he nods. "When will he be here? We need to clean up and get ready for him!" Iris says and frantically looks around the room for things to clean up in the house.

"Calm down sweetheart we have three days until he gets here." Kes says.

 _Then that means I have three days to get as much information as I can about the Resistance._ Kylo thinks and then decides to start now. "It will take him three days to get here. Where is he that he's able to get here in that amount of time?"

Kes is about to say something but then he stops. "You know I'm not really too sure actually." He says and just as quickly as Kylo's hopes went up, they fell. "Do you know where they are right now Shara?"

"Actually I think I do." She says and Kylo smirks. "They have a secret base on some planet nearby that's agreed to let them stay there. I think they're even working on allying their forces to help fight the First Order."

 _That's just what I needed to hear._ "Do you remember the name of the planet?" Kylo asks eagerly. Shara thinks for a moment.

"No. I can't say I do. But it's somewhere in this system." She says and Kylo mentally curses. "I'll ask General Leia when I call her again tonight" Shara says and picks up a piece of fruit. "It's so ripe." She notes and looks at her daughter. "Did you pick these this morning?"

"I did." Iris says and smiles and starts to eat her half of the fruit. Kylo realizes that he should probably do the same and he inspects it and takes a bite, and instantly cringes at the sweetness. Sith Lords don't like sweet tasting things. They're too bright, they make them feel good when they should be feeling pain. Iris noticed Kylo's cringe. "Do you not like it?" She asks and Kylo pauses mid bite and looks at her, and swallows while thinking of an answer.

"I wouldn't say I don't like it." He starts. "I'm just not used to sweet tasting things. It's been awhile since I've had them." He admits to her and she seems saddened by it.

"Iris I'll need you to collect some things in the jungle for Poe's homecoming." Shara says while looking in the pantry. "We're all out of his favorite fruits and this place could use some nice flowers to brighten it up. He is bringing friends after all. But that will at least slow him down a bit so we may have some more time."

"I'll do it for her." Kylo offers. Hux would be coming down sometime this morning to see how things are coming along. This would give him an excuse to go to him.

"That's very sweet of you Ben but you don't know the jungle like Iris does. You'll get lost easily and we don't want that. If you want you can go with her." Shara tells him.

"If she wouldn't mind?" Kylo asks and looks at her.

"I wouldn't mind at all." She says but there was a bit of a falter in her voice and Kylo sensed some sort of uneasiness come off of her, as if she didn't want him to accompany her. After breakfast Iris takes her basket with her and Kylo follows her out of the house and into the jungle. "Be careful where you step." She warns him. "There's a lot of roots and vines that make it very easy to trip and fall."

"Don't worry I can see where they are." He says flatly, a bit unhappy that she thought he wouldn't be able to handle himself in the jungle without her help. Although it was probably true but he didn't like the fact that she was better than him at understanding something. They head deep into the jungle and then she stops.

"The fruit that Poe likes grows past that clearing. I can gather it but you can't come with me. There's only room for one person." She says and Kylo nods. "Do you mind if I leave you alone?"

"I wouldn't mind at all." He says and fakes a smile at her before she smiles back and then disappears behind some vines. He immediately pulls out a device out of his satchel and turns it on. He starts to move away from the clearing so Iris can't hear him. "Hux are you receiving me?" He asks into the device.

"Yes I am." Hux says but it comes out a bit fuzzy. "We will be entering the planet's atmosphere shortly. We're sending you our landing coordinates now." Hux says and Kylo gets them and enters them into an app on the device and a map shows up telling him where to go to rendezvous with Hux. Then he loses the signal on the conversation and figures that it's because Hux had just entered the atmosphere. He would have to move quickly. Just as he's about to start making his way over to Hux he hears a scream and he sees Iris fall out of a tree above him and he catches her in his arms without even thinking about it. Shortly after catching her they both stare at each other, realizing what their current situation is. They both stare at each other, their faces are close, noses just barely brushing against each other. "Be careful where you step." Kylo tells her. "There's a lot of vines and that makes it very easy to trip and fall." He quotes her and she giggles lightly and her pale features blush and he smiles at her, genuinely, not caring that he was a Sith Lord supposed to feel nothing but hate. Right now he was just Ben, and she was just Iris, and that was all that mattered to him at the moment. He looked deep into her bright blue eyes and felt himself leaning into her blushing face, and his was a furious red as well. He'd never allowed someone to be so close to him as Iris was now. He felt her warm breath on his mouth and closed his eyes in bliss. Feeling himself slowly let go, when suddenly Hux's voice came over the device.

"Kylo Ren are you there? We're at the site and you're not present where are you?" He asks and Iris stiffens and Kylo's eyes go wide and he kicks the device away. She heard it.

"Kylo Ren? Is he here? Is he on this planet nearby us! What was that voice?" Iris starts panicking in Kylo's arms and his hopes sink. He remembered he was a monster to her. He was the person that struck such fear and hatred in her. He could feel it radiating off of her, and it crushed his heart a bit. All hope was thrown out the window and he frowned at her and he raised his hand and stroked her hair.

"Don't worry. He won't hurt you." Kylo says and strokes her soft golden hair a bit harder and then Iris goes limp in his arms. He looks at her sleeping form with that same form of longing that he had the night before. He sets her safely down under some bushes and strokes her cheek. "I will come back for you." He says and starts to walk away and looks back at her. "I promise." And with that he picked up the device and set off to find Hux. When he arrived at the ship Hux looked displeased as always.

"You're late Kylo Ren." He says and Kylo rolls his eyes.

"I was preoccupied. It took me longer than I thought to get away from the people I've been with." He answers.

"Who have you been with?" Hux demands.

"The Damerons. The family of General Leia's most trusted pilot." He says and Hux smiles for once.

"Excellent! The Supreme Leader will be very pleased with you! Hux says and Kylo smiles in satisfaction. "What have you discovered about the Resistance?"

"Only that they have a secret base somewhere in this system." Kylo says.

"Where?" Hux asks eagerly.

"I don't know." Kylo replies.

"Why don't you know!" He scolds Kylo and he winces. It was hard to be yelled at without the helmet hiding his face. "You're practically a Sith Lord why can't you just pull the information from their minds!"

"I've tried but they don't remember it's not that easy!" He replies, his voice raised lightly. "Don't worry I will find out where it is soon." He says. "I promise..." He says in a low voice and Hux nods.

"Very well. I will return tomorrow morning and you'd better give us this information." He says and Kylo nods and starts to turn away. "You're blushing."

"What?" Kylo asks and turns back towards Hux. A look of confusion on his face.

"You're blushing." Hux restates. "Why?"

"Because your yelling made me angry." Kylo says and Hux rolls his eyes.

"You were blushing before that. Why?" He asks and Kylo remains silent.

"It's none of your business." He says after a moment.

"Who is in the Dameron family?" He asks. "Parents? Siblings?"

"Two parents, Kes and Shara." He answers.

"Siblings?" Hux asks and Kylo does his best to keep his expression neutral but he just can't. Not without the helmet. He sighs.

"One. A sister, younger by two years. Her name is Iris..." He says and feels slightly happier from saying her name. He liked the way it sounded off of his lips. Hux watches Kylo's reaction curiously.

"Very well. I will leave you." Hux says but then walks up to Kylo and gets in his face. "But be warned. I will be watching you." He says and then turns and retreats into the ship and Kylo watches it take off. After it disappears he sighs, then remembers that he left Iris unconscious and all alone and uses his device to use the map to find his way back to her, worried about her well being for some reason. But he assured himself that he only cared about her because she had information that he needed, therefore she was an important component in his mission. But deep down, he knew it had a much deeper meaning than that.


	4. The Start of Something New

**A/N:** Hey guys I hope you're enjoying the story so far! Please leave me some reviews so I know that you guys like it and if you have any suggestions for how I can improve feel free to make them!

* * *

Kylo made his way back to where he left Iris and contemplated on his conflicting emotions. He was almost done with his training to become a Sith Lord. And he would become one. He knew that for a fact. He had embraced the darkness and there was no force in the galaxy that could stop him from taking this path. But he also could not explain how he felt when he held Iris close to him in his arms, her small frame that fit so perfectly in his long strong arms. And the way she looked at him despite his gruesome appearance. He gently rubbed his scar. _How can she stand to even look at my face?_ He thought. _She's probably never seen such a horrible injury in her entire life! How can she not cringe in disgust and fear at the sight of me! I'm a monster and now thanks to Rey I look like one too! Why do she and her parents not react the way the others do?_ He thought and then he reached the place where he left Iris. He moved back the fronds of the plant he left her under to protect her and his eyes widened when she wasn't there.

Kylo looked around the clearing for her but could not find her. Had she woken up already and left without him? Or gone in search of him? His thoughts on her whereabouts were interrupted when he felt a strong presence of the Force nearby. He immediately stood up and followed the pull that he felt. He came to an area covered in foliage, with the shadow of someone moving on the other side of it. He quietly pushed aside a leaf and he could not believe what he was seeing. Iris was using the force. But it was in a way that he had never seen before. Literally because he was seeing it happen right in front of his eyes. He could see the midichlorians moving with her arm movements. They were bright little particles moving around her arms as she moved them. It was beautiful, like a dance. But a very powerful one. She then quickly bent her elbow and straightened it again and the particles became a beam of light and struck the stem of a fruit and she caught it and placed it in her basket. "Well that's a lot easier than climbing trees." Kylo says, coming out of hiding and approaching her. Iris gasped and held out her hands to him and stepped back as he approached her. "Don't be afraid I feel it too." He tells her and she cautiously puts her hands down. "How long have you been able to do this?" He asks.

"For as long as I can remember." She answers and Kylo nods.

"Same here." He says and steps closer and this time she allows him. "But I've never seen anyone use it like you before. It's always been invisible to me, and to everyone I know and have read about that has had it. But how are you able to make it visible?"

"I don't know." She answers. "I don't know much about it to be honest. I've heard stories about the Jedi and the Sith, and how they used the force but my abilities seem different from theirs in some ways so I'm not really sure if it's even the Force that's given me this power."

"It is the Force. I felt it. But a very strong presence of it. There's only one other person I've met who I've felt that presence with." He starts to tell her then starts to wonder if it's a bad idea.

"Who?" She asks and he turns away from her, not wanting to remember Rey, and how she had defeated him. Then he feels Iris's soft touch on his cheek near his scar. "Was it the person who gave you this nasty scar?" She asks and he pulls his face away from her and she looks at him with worry and sadness in her eyes.

"I don't like to talk about it." He says and starts to step backwards but then she comes forward and wraps her arms around him in an embrace and rests her head on his chest, nuzzling into the crook of his neck slightly. Kylo's heart was pounding, he felt a surge of emotions he hadn't felt in such a long time. Warmth, love, acceptance, happiness, all of them came flooding towards him the moment she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head near his heart. His eyes were wide in shock but he found it in him to relax and hug her back, his arms sliding around her delicate frame, wrapping her lower back, bringing her closer to him. He closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh and gently rested his uninjured cheek on the top of her head, cradling her close to him, drawn by her warmth and light. For a moment he was at peace, when she was in his arms.

"I'm so sorry such terrible things have happened to you." She breathes against his collar bone. He hugs her tighter.

"It's alright. It's not your fault." He says and she smiles against him.

"You say you can use the Force?" Iris asks as she pulls her head out from under his chin to look at him. He smiles at her, genuinely.

"Yes I can." He says.

"Show me what you can do?" She asks and he smiles and removes one of his arms from her, while keeping the other one around her waist to keep her close to him. He holds out his hand towards a fruit in a tree and the stem snaps and the fruit flies into his big palm and he hands it to Iris.

"I can get you a snack." He says and she laughs and her eyes brighten up when she looks at him. He felt like he could get lost in them. She takes a bite of the fruit and then offers him some and he shakes his head and pushes it back towards her. "No thanks. I don't really like the kind of fruit that you guys have here." He says and she takes another bite.

"So what side are you on?" She asks after she chews and he pales a bit.

"Side?" He asks softly.

"Yeah. Are you on the Dark or the Light Side of the Force? Do you know about the sides?" She asks and he looks away from her and thinks hard about what he should say but for some reason he can't find a truthful answer, even in his head. Somehow all his certainty about his allegiance to the Dark Side became muddled and unclear.

"I don't know." He says and she takes his hand.

"I'm on the Light Side." She says. "I know that much."

"How do you know?" He asks her.

"Because I know General Leia. And I remember her telling me about how she, her brother and Han Solo-" Kylo cringed slightly at the mention of his father. That night on Starkiller all came back to him and he felt his rage and anger building. But then something stopped it abruptly and he returned to the present. Iris's small warm hand was over his heart. "Are you okay?" He nods gently.

"I am now." He says and gives her a small smile. "I can teach you if you like?" He offers.

"Teach me what?" Iris asks.

"The ways of the Force. How to wield a lightsabre. How to read people's minds, and control them-"Kylo starts listing but then Iris turns away from him and walks across the clearing a bit shaking her head.

"I don't wish to know those things. Those are Dark things. That's what the First Order does. It's leaders strip people of their free will and control their minds for their own purposes. I could never do that to someone." Iris says then Kylo approaches her again.

"The Light Side does it too occasionally. But what if it was for a good cause? To help bring the galaxy to it's rightful state-" He says and Iris shakes her head and cuts him off.

"There will never be a good cause to abuse people like that. If the Force wants someone to do something then it will lead them to do it. It's not up to us to interfere." Iris explains.

"But what if the Force wants us to interfere?" Kylo asks.

"Then it will tell us too." Iris says. "But it's not up to us to decide what everyone should do just because we have this power and they don't. There's a responsibility that comes with it. We can't tamper with other people's destinies, or take advantage of them just because we can. In the end that doesn't solve anything. That just makes people unhappy, and that's what the First Order can't understand."

"You have a point." Kylo says after a moment. Snoke had promised him fame, glory, and power if he came to the Dark Side. But is that what he really wanted? Was he happy? Did he want to be happy? In this moment his allegiance with the Dark Side was faltering and in that moment he looked at the woman in front of him and said "Show me. Teach me what you know of the Force. Show me how you see it, how it is supposed to be. If you are willing too?" He asks, and for the first time since he came to the Dark Side, he gave someone a choice. Iris smiled at him.

"I would love to." She says and Kylo smiles. "As long as you teach me something in return." She adds.

"What would you like to know?" Kylo questions.

"I want to learn about the Galaxy. What's out there. What's it like?" She asks and Kylo nods.

"I'd be happy to pass on that knowledge to you." Kylo says and Iris smiles.

"So do we have a deal?" Iris asks and Kylo smiles.

"I think we do." He says and holds out his hand to Iris and she takes it to shake it but instead he brings it to his lips and places them to the back of her hand and she blushes. His dark chocolate eyes search her bright blue ones as she pulls her hand away and then runs it through the grass, making little sparkles of light float up from them.

"That's the first lesson. Everything has some amount of the Force in it. Some people are just sensitive to it like us and can use it." She explains and Kylo is amazed. Snoke had always taught him that he was stronger than everyone else because he had the Force. And yet here even in these simple plants the Force was present. He couldn't deny it. It was staring at him in the face. Snoke was wrong about something. Snoke wasn't as wise as he thought he was. But this innocent girl, who was merely a speck in the Galaxy, knew something that he didn't.

"What else is there?" He asks eagerly. He felt something start to awaken inside of him. Something new. A feeling he had never experienced before. Was it the Force or was it something else? He didn't know but whatever it was it was pulling him to Iris, and he happily complied with it. She smiled at him and then leaped right over his head and landed on a tree branch behind him.

"Did you just fly?" He asks her.

"Well I wouldn't necessarily call it flying." She says and lowers herself down using the Force. "But I have learned how to concentrate amounts of it in certain areas of my body and help exert them to give me a lift when I'm trying to get into a tree." She says and Kylo smiles at her.

"Can you show me how to do that?" He asks and she nods and comes over to him and takes his hands in hers.

"Try to take the Force and concentrate on where my hands are. Pull the energy to those spots." She instructs and Kylo takes a deep breath and closes his eyes and starts to pull, and he feels it. He feels the energy start to concentrate on his hands and Iris lets go of him and he pushes his hands down then flies backwards into a tree, birds flying out of it from the impact and leaves falling from the branches. Iris rushes to him.

"Are you okay?" She asks, half concerned, half laughing.

"I'm fine." He groans and she offers him her hand and with a lot of effort she helps pull him to his feet.

"Let me take you somewhere to practice." She offers and he lets her lead him out of the jungle to a field, with short grass, leading down to a beach and a large expanse of water. It was a big lake. "There's less of a chance of you bumping into something out here." She says and he smiles at her and they continue to practice.

The day goes by quickly. Kylo making some form of progress after trying to concentrate the Force into his hands and feet but he still ended up hurting himself somehow. So Iris decided to leave that alone for awhile and focus on getting him more in tune with the Force inside of him. She held his hands as he sat on the grass and meditated. Usually when he meditated he thought about things he hated, and the things that fueled his anger as Snoke had instructed him to do. But this time he focused on other things. Like the sound of the water crashing against the sand and the animals that were scurrying about. But most of all he thought about Iris. He thought about the events of the past two days and how she had managed to make him question everything he thought was true. How he had finally found his place on the Dark Side, but she had made him consider if that was what he really wanted. He never thought he could be so close to someone, he never thought that anyone but his father could bring him back to the Light but maybe she could too. Maybe she was? Could she after how far he has fallen. But he had only met her yesterday, how could she? All of a sudden his mind was transported somewhere. He was on a different planet in his Sith robes, searching through the woods, looking for a specific Force signature. Iris's Force signature. He came into a clearing and there she was, wearing a lavender colored dress and she had flowers braided into a crown in her hair. His heart surged with happiness. "So you managed to sneak away too." He says and Iris turns around and runs towards him.

"Oh Ben!" She cries and throws her arms around him and he catches her and kisses her hungrily, right on her perfect lips and she returns with just as much passion, her hands running through his ebony curls and his hands holding her small body close to his large build.

"Oh Iris..." He breathes when they finally part for air and she returns again, holding his uninjured cheek and placing kisses along his scar. "I missed you so much. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you." She pulls away and looks at him adoringly. No one had looked at him like that in such a long time. "I've tried to deny it for so long and I've tried to escape it but I can't. I'm in love. So deeply in love with you. Even though you can't love me back."

"You're wrong!" She protests. "I know that Luke and Rey have told me you're a monster but I don't believe it. Not a word. I can't believe it after I've seen who's underneath those black robes and looked past your scar, and seen the man underneath. I love you Ben." They embrace in an intense kiss again and then he jumps and looks around him. The scenery had changed again. He was back on Yavin IV and Iris was holding onto his forearms, steadying him. The sky was dark, the stars were out. The two of them were out in the field all day. "Are you okay?" Iris asks and he looks at her and he feels those same things he felt in his dream. They were not as strong but they were definitely there. He thought of her lips moving against his, the Force flowing around them, pulling them together. How he thought that someone could never love him, that he was not capable of having those feelings, and yet he felt them. And she had felt the same. Snoke had always told him that he was not capable of love and that no one could love a Sith. But yet in his vision Iris did. Had Snoke been wrong about something else? And how had Luke and Rey found her?

"I'm fine." He says, half lying. She smiles on him and looks around.

"It's gotten late." She looks up at the sky. "It's the perfect night to watch the stars." She tells him and he smiles. Then his smile falters when she shivers as a breeze passes over them. He takes off his light brown robe and wraps it around her, and pulls her close, shielding her from the wind.

"Then I believe it is time for me to hold up my end of the bargain." He says and she smiles and settles in against his chest and looks up at the sky with him. He pointed out the different systems to her and she stared at the sky, amazed by how much he knew.

"How do you know all of this stuff?" She asks him.

"I studied the Galaxy a lot. I wanted to know about everything that was out there. And everything that was known about what was out there." He explains. But he leaves out the fact that he did that as a part of his Sith training to learn about the Galaxies weaknesses.

"Wow you're very studious." She comments and giggles a bit.

"I suppose you could call it that." He smirks and she stares into his dark eyes, and he stares into her bright ones. The entire sky reflected in them. All brightened by her. _So this is how she sees things_. He thinks and then remembers his vision and starts to lean into her but then suddenly she's torn from his embrace, and lets out a shriek of fear and a cry of pain. "Let go of her!" He commands. He immediately jumps to his feet and uses the Force to push back the man that grabbed her and he pulls Iris back to him and hugs her to him protectively. Her breathing was heavy and she clung to Kylo and they both watched as the man stood back up. He was an attractive man around Kylo's age.

"Let go of her? Why? So you can get back to making out with her?" He questions and Kylo's anger steadily builds.

"Back off Daron." Iris demands but he only steps closer and then his smirk morphs into a look of disgust.

"By the Force he's hideous!" He exclaims. "This is the guy you decide to have a starlight tryst with?"

"We weren't doing anything! He's my friend!" Iris argues.

"He's the ugliest man I've ever seen and he's totally got the hots for you." Daron says. "I saw the way he was looking at you. He has desire in his eyes Iris. I bet he was thinking about doing sinful things to you in this field, like an animal successfully securing his prey and then going in for the kill. And I just couldn't stand by and let this monster ruin something so beautiful." He concludes and tears start to form in Kylo's eyes. Daron was right.

"You're the monster Daron!" Iris challenges and Kylo's eyes widen. "You may be attractive physically but on the inside you're repulsive! Ben here is the smartest man I've ever met. And he has the most beautiful eyes. And we have a connection that I'll never have with you! So don't think you're protecting me from a monster. Ben pulled me away to keep me away from one!" She says and hugs Kylo. Daron looks at him.

"What do you have to say? Beast." He challenges and Kylo's nostrils flare.

"She wants you to stay away from her. So you'd better do that. If you touch her again I'll hurt you in ways you have never even imagined possible!" He threatens and Daron seems to be scared. Kylo's dark energy was returning and it made him powerful. "If you value your life you'll do as I say and never come near her again!" He commands.

"You're a freak!" Daron spits at him and runs away. Kylo's about to charge after him but Iris places her hand on his chest and stops him.

"Don't." She tells him. "He's not worth it." She says and Kylo looks at her and sighs. She was right. But so was Daron. That vision he had was just a wish. An illusion. Daron had reminded him of reality. That no matter how much he wished for people to see him differently he was a monster. And Iris would be miserable with him. He would ruin her. "Let's go home. My parents are probably worried sick about us." She says and Kylo nods in agreement and follows her home.

Meanwhile on the Finalizer hovering near Yavin IV General Hux has been called into an emergency meeting with Supreme Leader Snoke. Hux enters the meeting room and the projection of the Supreme Leader appears before him. "Supreme Leader." He bows. "Why have you called me-"

"Where is he?!" Snoke bellows and shakes Hux to his core. Fear riddles through him and he stammers.

"Who Supreme Leader?" Hux asks shakily.

"Kylo Ren! I have tried to speak to him through the Force as I have since he was born but for some reason now I am not able to!" He exclaims. "Why is this happening?! What are his whereabouts?" He demands and Hux gulps.

"He was on Yavin IV this morning sir. We have not detected any ships coming or going from the planet. He should still be present on it." Hux explains and Snoke growls in frustration.

"Then why can't I get through to him!" He says. "It's like there's something blocking me! Something keeping me out of his mind. Something keeping my influence away from him!" Snoke bangs his fist on his throne and looks at Hux.

"What information have you gathered from him this morning?" He asks.

"Kylo Ren has taken up residence with the Dameron family sir. He believes that he will soon find everything there is to know about the Resistance with them." He says and Snoke smiles.

"Excellent. But why is it taking so long? He could just read their minds and find out all of this information instantly. Why doesn't he do that?" He asks.

"I do not know Supreme Leader." Hux says and then Snoke ponders something for a moment before asking Hux something else.

"Who is in the Dameron family?" He asks.

"Well aside from Poe Dameron who is not currently with them there are his two parents. Kes and Shara. And then there is Poe's younger sister Iris." He says and Snoke suddenly sits up, his eyes widen.

"How much younger than Poe is this sister?" He asks.

"About two years younger Supreme Leader." He answers and he sees something that no one has ever seen before. Supreme Leader Snoke, afraid. Hux is astonished.

"Supreme Leader?" He presses.

"Bring Kylo Ren back to the Finalizer immediately! I need to assess him at once!" He demands.

"It will be done Supreme Leader." Hux bows and Snoke signs off and Hux exits to carry out his orders.

* * *

So a lot happened in this chapter! I hope you guys like it! At this point feedback would be much appreciated so I know that you guys like the direction I'm going with this! I'll be writing the next part soon so stay tuned! :)


	5. If There's A Chance

**A/N:** Hey guys sorry this took so long! I was super busy! Here's another long chapter with a lot of feels in it! The next one might have some too! Please give me feedback and I hope you all enjoy the fifth chapter!

* * *

Kylo and Iris made their way back to her house in about half and hour and her parents were waiting outside with worried expressions on their faces. When they saw Iris and Kylo coming they both ran over to them. "Where have you two been?!" Shara exclaims and hugs her daughter and gives Kylo a quick look to make sure he's okay.

"We were worried sick about you Iris!" Kes explains with his voice raised slightly. "And you too Ben!" He adds. "But Iris you know how easy it is to get lost in the jungle at night! Even the eldest people here, who have lived in it their whole lives get lost during the night! What if that happened to you?"

"I'm so sorry dad." Iris apologizes and hugs her dad. Ben stays off to the side, still unsure if he should get involved. "We lost track of time and the next thing we knew it got dark."

"What were you two doing out there?" Shara asks and Iris looks at Kylo, signaling she wanted him to give an explanation.

"I was teaching her about the galaxy." He says. "I was showing her the stars and pointing out different planets to her."

"But you two were out all day." Kes says. "What else were you guys doing?"

"I was teaching Ben about the jungle." Iris says and her parents seem to believe it.

"Alright. Since you two spent so much time in the jungle today I suppose you won't mind the fact that I'm not letting you go in it again until after Poe leaves." Kes says.

"But dad Ben is leaving in two days! I wanted to teach him more!" Iris complains.

"I'm sure he's learned plenty. Besides you have to get ready for the festival too." Kes explains.

"What festival?" Kylo asks.

"It's a big party that we hold every year. Around this time all of the jungle fruit is ripe and all of the animals are in mating season and so we throw a big party to celebrate." Iris explains although she didn't sound excited about it.

"And you young lady still need to find a date." Shara says.

"I won't find a date this year mom." Iris says.

"What about Daron?" Kes asks.

"He's a jerk! He called Ben a monster!" Iris says.

"And he grabbed her arm rather roughly, while trying to 'protect' her by trying to get her away from me." Kylo adds.

Shara looks at Iris's arm and sees the redness that was there where Daron grabbed her. Kes looked angry. "I'm going to teach that kid a lesson." He grumbles and starts to walk away.

"Don't worry Ben already took care of that." Iris says and Kes and Shara look at Kylo and he blushes.

"Really?" Kes asks.

"It was nothing. I just gave him a stern warning." Kylo says.

"And knocked him to the ground and made him nearly wet himself!" Iris adds and Kes holds out his hand to Kylo.

"Thank you for defending my daughter Ben." He says. "You're a good man." Kylo takes his hand and shakes it.

"Thank you Mr. Dameron." He says and Kes pulls him into a rough bro hug and Kylo goes stiff, unsure of how to return it.

"Oh come on Ben! Call me Kes! You've earned it." He laughs.

"I just feel so bad for you honey." Shara says.

"Why?" Iris asks.

"Because now it's another year and no one is going to this festival with you." She tells her.

"Mom it's okay I don't mind just going with friends." Iris answers.

"I know but it's nice to go with someone you might find attractive." She hints and Iris rolls her eyes. Kylo didn't know what came over him but in that moment he took a chance.

"I'll go with you." He says and Iris blushes and her parents look shocked.

"You would?" Iris asks and he nods.

"Yeah. Why not. It sounds like it could be a fun time." Kylo says.

"Thank you. I'd love to go with you." Iris says and the next thing Kylo knows is Iris is running up to him and then she throws her arms around him in a hug. He stands there stunned for a few moments then hugs her back.

"You're welcome." Kylo whispers in her ear and she smiles and rests her head in the crook of his neck. Kylo smiles and snuggles onto her a bit.

"Alright well get to bed you two. You have a long day tomorrow." Shara says. Kylo and Iris let go of each other and they all head back into the house.

Kylo laid in Poe's bed and had another nightmare. He dreamt about his fight with Rey. Their lightsabres crashing as the planet fell apart underneath them. His rage was fueling him to keep fighting but there was something else that was different too. He was angry because he had lost his father. He regretted what he did. In that momentary lapse his foot got stuck in a hole in the ground and Rey delt a fatal blow on him instead of the slash across his face that had happened in reality. Then he saw Snoke. He was furious with him. "What are you doing Kylo Ren!" He bellowed. "You are failing me! I thought you were stronger than this! I thought you got rid of the pull to the Light when you killed your father! Now all of that is worth nothing because you feel it again! You are a disgrace! A failure! You will never rule the Galaxy!" He threatens and Kylo trembles before him. Then he hears another voice calling him and all he can see is Snoke's angry shouting.

"Ben. Ben..." A sweet voice called his name numerous times before his eyes opened and he saw Iris straddling him on the bed looking down at him. Kylo stared at her in awe. No one, not even his own mother could break the connection he had with Snoke. Yet somehow Iris was able to. "Are you okay?" She asks. "I heard you scream and I came in and found you tossing and turning. I guess you had a nightmare..." Kylo nods, unable to speak. "Well at least it's over now." She smiles and moves a stray lock of his hair out of his face. Her eyes wander down a bit and he blushes when he realizes she's staring at his bare chest. She reaches out and gently touches the scar on his left shoulder, he got it on the same night as when he got the one on his face. He winced when she touched it. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay." He cuts her off and she sighs.

"I'll let you get back to sleep." She says and starts to get off of the bed. Kylo takes a deep breath and grabs her wrist, stopping her.

"Stay. Please?" He asks and she smiles at him and gets under the covers with him. Kylo's heart was beating a mile a minute, especially when he felt her coming closer to him and soon their faces were only an inch apart. He stared at her. The moon was near full tonight and it's light shined in the window through the curtains, lighting up her blue eyes. Even in the dark they were so bright. Everything about her was so bright and beautiful. He couldn't believe that she was so close to him, that for once he had some comfort to himself, no Snoke, no First Order, just him and Iris. But it couldn't last forever. Poe would be coming the day after tomorrow and then he would have to sneak away in the night to get back to the Finalizer. Back to the Dark Side. But maybe just this one night he could indulge in the Light a little.

"Is this okay?" She asks him, he could tell she was fixing her knee length night gown under the sheets, making sure nothing was riding up that might make their current situation awkward.

"It's fine." He answers and gently reaches out and wraps one of his arms loosely around her waist. He would do nothing more, if she did not want to touch him. He just needed that small amount of contact to know that she was there, a light shining in his darkness. "Is that okay?" He asks her and she nods. She looks down and sees his other wounds and her eyes fill with sadness. He sees a tear slide down her cheek and he catches it with his thumb.

"Why are you so hurt?" She asks him softly and he sighs.

"I'd rather not talk about it tonight." He says and she nods, agreeing to his wish. But then her face comes closer to his and he feels her soft lips on his cheek, on his hideous scar.

"Then don't tell me, but I do want to know some day." She says and Kylo nods and stares at her. He could kiss her. He could take what he wanted and she probably wouldn't object. He could sense her feelings, he could sense her falling in love with him. But he couldn't do that to her. He wasn't being honest with her. She had no idea who he really was. Who's lips she would really be kissing. It wouldn't be right. So he turned his face away from her, to eliminate the temptation.

"Goodnight." He says and she settles down beside him.

"Goodnight Ben." She says and falls asleep. Something about the way she said his name made her heart flutter. He turned and looked at her, eyes closed and falling into a deep sleep. He couldn't help himself. He gently leaned forward and placed his lips to her soft, fair cheek. He saw her smile a bit and he did too. Then he let his head fall back against the pillow and he quickly fell into a deep sleep.

He woke up the next morning feeling surprisingly well rested. He hadn't had such a good sleep in ages. He shifted a bit in bed and then realized he was holding something, no someone. He looked down and found Iris, her hands pressed to his bare torso, and her head resting on his collar bone. She was wrapped in his arms and their legs were intertwined. They must have wound up cuddling some time last night. He smiled and gently rubbed his thumbs on her back. She was still fast asleep. He heard something beeping in his satchel and sighed. He reluctantly removed an arm from her form and fished around in his satchel on the ground by the bed and pulled out a device. It was a message from Hux in all caps. "COME MEET ME AT THESE COORDINATES IMMEDIATELY!" Hux never sent out messages in all caps. This must be really important. He took one last look at Iris sleeping in his arms and placed a small kiss to her forehead. He got up and put his shirt on and started to write a note for her.

 _Iris,_

 _I'm going to go collect some fruit for breakfast. I should be back soon._

 _Ben_

He almost wrote Kylo Ren but then remembered why he shouldn't. He put on his satchel and snuck out of the house. He was halfway to where Hux wanted to meet him when he felt something jump on his back. He screamed and was about to hit whoever it was but then he found himself looking into a pair of brilliant blue eyes. "Good morning to you too." Iris chuckles and Kylo smiles.

"What are you doing up?" He asks.

"I heard you leave and then I saw your note and decided to come find you. I wouldn't want you getting lost." She says and smiles at him.

"I can find my way. I'm taking the same route that we took yesterday. I'm good at remembering things." He tells her.

"I hope so. It's very easy to get lost in the jungle." She says.

"You should probably get home and get ready for your brother's arrival tomorrow." He tells her to try to get her away so he can meet with Hux.

"I have all day. I want to spend some time with you." She says and takes his hands and swings them a bit.

"I'll be with you all night." Kylo reminds her and Iris blushes.

"Not all night..." She points out and Kylo's face turns red when he realizes what he might have been suggesting. She laughs. "How about we make a deal? I'll let you collect fruit on your own if you can catch me."

"Deal." Kylo says and he takes off after her. Kylo may have had a longer stride but Iris knew the jungle a lot better. She jumped over roots, made sharp turns around trees and Kylo had to struggle to keep up with her. Eventually she started running down a straight path he charged after her and started to catch up to her. Then he tripped on a root and fell on top of her. The two of them crashed through some vines and landed in a flowery clearing, Kylo on top of Iris. The two of them laughing. He looked down at her underneath him, her light blonde hair fanned out around her, pink flower petals caught in it. He stayed on top of her and admired her. _So beautiful..._ He thought. _So pure. So light..._ She rolled over so she was on top of him and stared down at him.

"Watch your step..." She tells him teasingly and he grabs her sides and he guessed she was ticklish there because she squealed in delight and fell over and Kylo got up and held out his hand and she grabbed it and he pulled her up. "You win." She says. "I'll head home. Don't go too far. Try to stay on the path if you can." She warns then kisses his cheek, making Kylo's heart leap in his chest. "Come home soon."

"I will. I promise." He says. She lets go of his hand and disappears into the jungle.

He takes his device out of his satchel and follows it to where Hux was waiting. When he approached the waiting shuttle the doors opened and Hux came running out. "Kylo Ren!" He bellows. "Why are you late? What took you so long!"

"I was busy, and I had to find the right time to sneak away." Kylo says and Hux grasps his arm and drags him towards the shuttle. Kylo pulled his arm out of his grasp and gave him an angry look. "Just what do you think you're doing trying to touch me?"

"We need to return to Finalizer immediately!" Hux says and and reaches for Kylo's arm again. "Get on the shuttle now!"

"When will I return to Yavin IV?" Kylo asks.

"You will not. The Supreme Leader has cancelled your mission. You will never return to this planet again unless we attack it." Hux says and Kylo takes a few steps back.

"I can't leave yet." Kylo says.

"Why not?" Hux asks, now agitated.

"I haven't gathered all the information we need." Kylo lies.

"That doesn't matter. The Supreme Leader has other ways of getting it now get on the shuttle!" Hux orders.

"I can't!" Kylo protests.

"Why?" Hux shouts.

"The Dameron family will worry. I told them that I would be back by tonight." Kylo says and Hux rolls his eyes.

"Who cares what they think? They're trapped on this little planet they'll just assume you left. It's not like you were doing anything aside from taking residence with them." Hux says. Kylo stays put. "Fine. We will ask the Supreme Leader if you can come back tonight and say your goodbyes to them now get on the blasted ship!" This time Kylo complies and soon he is back on the Finalizer. On the shuttle he changed out of his brown robe-like clothes and back into his Sith Robes. He looked at his helmet, the helmet he hadn't put on in two days. He was sort of reluctant to. But he knew he had to. So he put it on his head and it clicked into place and he was submerged in the darkness again. Hux rushed him off of the ship towards the conference hall where they spoke with Snoke on the Finalizer. Hux pushed guards out of his way and pushed open the metal doors and began to talk. "Supreme Leader I apologize for our lateness-"

"Leave us General!" Snoke bellows.

"Yes Supreme Leader." Hux says and turns on his heel and leaves quickly, the doors shutting behind him.

"Kylo Ren..." Snoke greets and Kylo Ren approaches his transmission.

"Supreme Leader Snoke." Kylo greets and stares up at the massive projection of his teacher.

"Something has happened to us while you were on Yavin IV." He starts. "Something that troubles me greatly. I was not able to speak to you while you were on that planet. I know that I made contact with you last night. You saw me in your dream didn't you?"

"Yes." Kylo says nervously, remembering the nightmare.

"But then something even more troubling happened." Snoke continues. "Something didn't just block my connection with you. Something actually cut it off. My message to you was not finished and something came in and cut me off! Doesn't this worry you!"

"Yes Supreme Leader." Kylo answers honestly. "Not even my own mother could separate us."

"Then something stronger has found you and is pulling you away from my influence!" Snoke despairs. "We cannot complete our training if I cannot influence you."

"Why do you need to influence me to complete my training?" Kylo asks, and Snoke looks stunned.

"What did you just ask me?"

"Why do you still need influence over me? If I am to become a full Sith Lord then I will no longer need your guidance unless I need it. Why would you still need access to my mind to keep me on the path to the Darkness if I am already on it permanently?" Kylo asks. Snoke stands up suddenly, furious.

"Kylo Ren!" He bellows and Kylo can feel himself shake. "How dare you question my methods! Have I ever been wrong before?"

"No Supreme Leader-" Kylo starts but he gets cut off.

"Then why do you think you should question me! You are not a full Sith Lord yet! Nor will you ever attain my position for as long as I am living! Remember your place!" Snoke says and sits back down. Kylo decided that now would not be a good time to ask to go back to Yavin IV tonight. "Now do you know what might blocked our connection?" He asks calmly.

"No..." Kylo lies but not totally. He thought it might be Iris, but he also wasn't entirely sure that was the case. Snoke wouldn't pick up that he was lying.

"Very well. You're back home now so it should not happen again." Snoke says. "We have more important things to worry about. Such as the location of Skywalker and that girl."

"I will see to finding out that information at once." Kylo Ren declares and the Supreme Leader smiles.

"Good. Carry on then." He says and Kylo leaves.

He walks down the hallway and notices that no one else is around. He takes out his lightsabre and screams and starts to destroy the pristine metal walls. _How could I have been so stupid!_ He screams in his head. _What madness possessed me to question the Supreme Leader! Now he's even more disappointed in me! He may even suspend me from becoming a Sith Lord!_ He stops destroying the walls and turns off his lightsabre and puts it back on his side and rests his head on the wall. His mind wandered and it settled on Iris. He clicked off his helmet and let his forehead rest against the metal where his lightsabre hadn't struck. He thought about her sweet voice and laugh. He thought about how she smiled when he tried to use the Force like she did. How he kept failing to do it right yet she never cared. When he did something wrong Snoke would hit him. But when he did something wrong around him she would hug him. She didn't care that he was hideous to look at. She didn't even seem to think he was hideous. Is it possible that she thought he was attractive? No. She couldn't. He was a monster, yet she didn't think about him like that. He started to walk down the hallway, carrying his mask in one hand. He thought about how he chased her through the jungle and how the two of them had rolled through the meadow together. She was so beautiful and sweet. He's pulled out of his day dream by the clatter of his mask on the metal floor and a gasp from behind him. He turned around to see Hux, staring at him, jaw dropped.

"Kylo Ren!" He scolds and picks up his mask and thrusts it back onto his chest. "Why would you drop your mask? How could you be so careless!"

"It's none of your business." Kylo retorts.

"Oh yes it is." Hux argues. "You have been extremely irresponsible lately and it is my job to keep you responsible! Now what has gotten into you!" Kylo stayed silent. Hux noticed something strange and pulled a flower petal off of Kylo's hair. "What's this?"

"Nothing." Kylo said and tried to reach for it but Hux pulled back and inspected it.

"It's from Yavin IV isn't it?" He asks.

"Yes now give it back." Kylo says but Hux steps back.

"Why do you care so much?" He asks. "The Damerons, this petal...Maybe you care for a certain Dameron? A rather lovely flower..." He mocks.

"Shut up." Kylo hisses.

"It's the Pilot's sister isn't it!" Hux says.

"Shut up!" Kylo orders.

"Oh my! You do care about her? May I make a bold guess and suggest that you are in love with her?" He asks and Kylo looks at the ground and Hux laughs.

"Oh my stars you're in love with that air headed girl!" He laughs then finds himself shoved up against the wall by his neck. Kylo close to his ear.

"Don't you dare insult her!" Kylo scolds him. "You know nothing about her!"

"I know enough to know she's nowhere near as intelligent as we are, and that her isolated sad little life is doomed to end once the First Order controls the Galaxy." Hux informs him, choking a bit. "And if she knew who you really were she would think you're a monster!" He spits and Kylo lets him go and looks at his helmet. "You know what people like her think about people like us. She would feel filthy just for knowing you. All of those 'happy' memories she has of you will be contaminated with disgust and regret. No one can love a Sith Lord. Especially one with the blood of his own father on his hands."

"Don't mention my father!" Kylo force pushes Hux back into the wall.

"Forget her Ren! She's not worth your time and you have no heart to give her! The man she thinks she may care for is a monster! And if she finds out who you really are that will never change!" Hux says and drops the petal over the guard rail of a bridge where the hallway ended. Kylo Ren quickly put his mask back on and makes his way back to his quarters, tears streaming down his face. He comes into his room and takes off his mask and collapses on the floor by his bed and sobs into his sheets. He hadn't cried in so long, everything came out. His guilt for killing his father, and his heartbreak over Iris. He wiped his face and looked at his shrine to his grandfather in the corner of his room. He made his way over to it and sat down. "Grandfather." His voice shook. "Help me. Show me what my destiny is, please." He begs and then buries his face in his leather clad hands and cries. Then he sees something. He sees himself, Hux and Phasma commanding thousands of Storm Troopers into battle, planets being destroyed all around them by other weapons of destruction that the First Order was working on, a throne beside Snoke and Snoke himself sitting on it, and gesturing for Kylo Ren to come before him.

"We have done it Kylo Ren." He says and smiles. "We have taken over the Galaxy!" Everyone below them cheers and they all bow before him and Snoke. He was filled with pride.

Then he heard something else. "Ben...Ben..." It was Iris. Calling out his name. No. Moaning it. He saw Iris, her hair fanned out like it had been this morning but this time in between two pillows, and he was above her, and they were locked in the most intimate of embraces, lips devouring each other, as she let out little noises of enjoyment. Then his vision changed again and he saw her in a white gown with a veil, he felt so in love with her and then he saw his own Uncle standing between them and smiling at both of them.

"I now pronounce you man and wife." He says. "You may now kiss the bride." He says and he pulls Iris to his lips and they kiss hungrily while everyone cheers around them.

"It's a boy." Iris tells him in another vision. She was in a bed and looked tired, and in her arms was a baby, wrapped in a white blanket.

"We have a son..." He says in disbelief and Iris laughs and he smiles and looks at him. He had Iris's blue eyes but the rest was all him. She hands him over to him and Kylo stares at the tiny bundle in his big arms. The baby smiled at him and laughed. He looked at Iris and smiled, tears running down his cheeks. "I love you..." He says and kisses her and he opens his eyes and sees his grandfather's helmet. Kylo wipes the remaining tears from his cheeks and stares in disbelief.

"Why would you show me two visions! One Dark and one Light! How does that help me!" He bellows and stands up furiously and punches the shrine, knocking over the helmet. He saw something next to it. The little violet petal from the meadow this morning. He picks it upa and studies it. Then he realized something. "There's a chance she could love me..." He says to himself. "That other vision...I could have that...My father was right! It's not too late?" He asks himself then looks outside. Night would be falling over Yavin IV soon. He approaches the window and touches the glass. "If there's a chance...I have to see if it could happen. Then I'll know what my true destiny is." He decides. "My father..." He remembers something and goes over to his bed. He reaches underneath and pulls out a little wooden box. He opened it and looked at all of his little trinkets from before he became Kylo Ren. At the bottom of them all, some of his father's clothes. He remembered what he said when he got them.

"Dad these are going to be huge on me!" His little ten year old voice whined.

"Then you'll grow into them!" Han tells him and laughs, ruffling his hair. "Now be a good boy for Uncle Luke. You're going to be the best Jedi that ever existed I know it!" He says and Kylo's eyes fill with tears and he hugs the shirt to his chest.

"I'm so sorry dad." He says "I'll give it another chance." He promises to him. "If she can love me, then maybe there is still a path for me on the Light Side. I'll go down to that planet and find out. For you."


	6. We Found Love

Kylo Ren strode down the hallways of the Finalizer, making his way towards a docking bay where he could take a ship down to Yavin IV, his father's old clothes hidden under his Sith robes. Kylo wasn't too sure what his plan was. What ship should he take? A TIE fighter? The Command Shuttle? He slowed his pace and surveyed the area. Storm Troopers and other officials scurried by him, afraid they would anger him by standing idle. But they did not need to fear him now. He was not angry, he even felt less powerful than he normally was. He felt like a prisoner on his own ship, and he was worried he might get caught trying to escape. He heard some TIE fighters starting up and he looked and saw them leaving the landing bay. He made his way over to an official. "Why did those TIE fighters just leave?" He asks in a normal tone but the official still looked terrified and saluted him shakily and stood stiffly.

"They are just on patrol sir." He says quickly.

"Very well. You are dismissed." Kylo says and moves on and the official relaxes.

That's how he would escape. Kylo Ren was going to steal a TIE fighter and pretend to be on patrol and head down to the planet. He noticed some pilots getting into some other TIE fighters and made his way over to one. He followed the pilot down the corridor that led into the TIE fighter and then preformed a Force feint on him like he did one time with Rey. Another person was coming to man the guns and he did the same procedure on them but left them tucked away in the corridor. He strapped the pilot in on the firing side of the fighter and then sat in the pilot's seat. After the fighters were scanned to make sure there were two people in each one they were allowed to take off. Kylo thanked the Force he had taken the time to learn how to fly one of these things before leaving the Finalizer. He flew with the other TIE fighters for awhile then slowly started to distance himself from them and make his way closer to the planet. Soon he was on his own and he flew straight towards the surface of the planet. He pulled out his device from his mission and checked what coordinates Hux landed at and guided the TIE fighter to the same place. He landed in a thicker part of the jungle to hide the ship and stepped out of the TIE fighter to change his clothes since there wasn't enough space inside.

It was a strange sensation for Kylo to be putting on his father's old clothes. The brown robes he had worn on his mission didn't hold any value to him. But these clothes represented a different part of his life, and a different person. He found himself holding back sobs as he put on his father's old blue pants. They fit him surprisingly well. The white shirt was a bit tighter on him, probably because he had more muscle than his dad did. The vest was also a bit small but it wasn't too bad. He started to cover the TIE fighter more with some foliage he found on the ground but stopped when he noticed his reflection in the ship. He stared at it. He could see his father in himself now. He may have killed him, but he could never fully get rid of him. The guilt of what he did to Han Solo would always be present. But he felt that by wearing these clothes he could at least do one thing that his father wanted him to do. He had to admit they did flatter him a bit. _I wish you could see me in them._ He thinks to himself as he turns away from his reflection and follows the familiar jungle path to the village that he used when he first landed on the planet.

He was amazed when he reached the town. It had changed so much in just the course of one day. There were lights everywhere and festive vibrant colors painted on walls of buildings and strung on streamers overhead. The town was alive with people and festivities. How would he find Iris? He walked through the streets hoping to bump into her, assuming that she would be taking part in all of the festivities but he couldn't find her anywhere. Was it possible that she could be out looking for him? The thought made his heart flutter with the thought that she would actually care enough about him to look for him, but then it sank when he realized she might have gotten lost herself. Then he felt something in his chest. A familiar tug. The pull to the Light, but now he realized that it wasn't pulling him to the Light. It was pulling him to Iris. He followed the pull he felt and soon he saw her standing in a corner by herself watching everyone having fun with a sad expression on her face. He smiled and strode over to her. "What's a beautiful girl like you doing all alone during a party?" He asks and she knows it's him before she even turns to see him. When she does she smiles and runs into his arms as he holds them out for her.

"Ben!" She exclaims and holds onto him tightly, her face resting against his. Kylo had never felt so much joy before. He never wanted this moment to end. "I was so worried about you." She says, pulling away and looking into his eyes. Kylo could see that they were slightly red. She had been crying. "You said that you would be right back and you were gone all day! I thought you had gotten lost and I'd never see you again." Her voice cracked slightly.

"Don't worry." He reassures her and gently strokes her cheek with his thumb. "I never want to leave your side again." He says softly to her and places a kiss on her cheek.

"Where were you all day?" She asks and Kylo sighs. He couldn't lie to her. Not tonight.

"I'll tell you later." He says and she seems to be okay with that. "You look beautiful." He says and looks her over. She was wearing a lavender dress that was hemmed at her waist, showing her figure and her hair was braided in a crown like it always is but there were little violet and pink flowers in them, like the ones that were in the meadow they fell into today. She was even wearing a little bit of make up. Her cheeks had some blush on them and her lips looked glossier. Not to mention there was even some light purple coloring on her eyelids. It wasn't much of a difference but it highlighted her beautiful features a bit more.

"Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself." She says, commenting on his outfit. "I've never noticed how strong you are." She says and runs her hands along his arms a bit and looked at his chest. He blushed.

"I work out." He says and she laughs.

"You look like Han Solo in that outfit." She says and he tries his best to hold back his feelings. "You have to come meet my brother!" She exclaims and pulls his hand towards where her parents were with Poe. He was home early. His blood froze.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" He asks and she laughs again.

"Why wouldn't it be?" She asks and blushes a bit more. "I really like you. I want you to meet all of my family." She says and Kylo's heart melted. He wanted to give her what she wanted but he didn't know how. Then he remembered something. Poe had never known him before he became Kylo Ren. And the only times they had interacted were when he had his helmet on. He wouldn't recognize him. He might just be able to fool Poe.

"Alright let's go talk to him." He agrees and Iris squeals in delight. She brings him over to her family and Kes and Shara both hug Kylo.

"We were worried about you buddy!" Kes exclaims and gives Kylo a strong embrace.

"We thought you got lost in the jungle!" Shara says and hugs him a bit gentler. "Where were you all day?"

"I went out to find some clothes to wear tonight." He half lies. He slides his hands into his pockets and then feels something. He felt around it a bit, it felt like something small wrapped in paper. He didn't have time to pull it out and investigate it because Poe quickly approached him and offered his hand.

"Hey Ben." He says and Kylo quickly removes his hand from his pocket and gives it to Poe. "It's so nice to meet you. I hear you're my sister's date tonight."

"Yeah. I'm a really lucky guy." Kylo says and Poe smiles.

"Aw, Ben." Iris blushes and looks at the ground.

"Well it sounds like she's a really lucky girl." Poe says and lightly punches Kylo's bicep. "Go have fun with her. I'll bring you over to General Leia after tonight and she'll get you together with your parents. They're probably here if you want to look for them. Everyone in the Resistance is here." He says and Kylo pales.

"The entire Resistance is here?" He repeats.

"Oh yeah we invited them all over." Shara says and she and Kes clink two glasses of a drink together. "The First Order has been pretty inactive lately and this is such a great time. So we invited them all over. In fact here comes General Leia now." Kes says and Leia comes over with Finn with a confused look on her face.

"General Leia I'd like you to meet B-" Poe says gesturing to Ben but he turns and sees an empty space where Ben used to be. Iris turns around also and is confused. Leia looks at the spot with a strange look on her face.

"Can we help you with something General?" Kes asks and Leia shakes her head.

"No. That's alright it's just...I thought I saw..." She smiles and shakes her head. "It's nothing. How are you Iris?" She asks her.

"Everything is great." She says and smiles at the General. "I'm going to have so much fun tonight with Ben." She says and Leia's smile falls. "I'm going to go find him, I'll catch up with you later." She says and runs off.

"Leia are you alright you seem uneasy?" Finn asks and he and Poe support her.

"I'm fine. It's just, I came over here because I thought I saw my son. And Iris said she was here with a man named Ben..." Leia says and Poe and Finn exchange a glance.

"That's impossible." A nearly drunk Kes breaks in. "Our Ben is the nicest guy you could ever meet. Protected our daughter from some jerk last night, offered to take her here and everything. I don't think someone on the Dark Side would do that."

"I suppose you have a point." Leia says but still can't shake the feeling that her son is nearby.

Kylo leaned against a wall in an alley and read the note that he had found in his pocket. It was from his father. And in his hand was a silver necklace, made of precious gems. The note read:

 _Hey son,_

 _One more thing before I go. I want you to have this necklace. It belonged to your mother, and her adoptive mother before her. It's made of precious gems from Alderaan. It's the only thing she has to remember it by. It represents love for her, and that's what she wants it to mean for you. If you ever fall in love with a girl, give it to her. Trust me girls love jewelry any girl will love you forever if you give her this. We love you too son. That's why your mother and I want you to have it, and give it to someone you love like we love each other. Good luck with your training._

 _Your dad,_

 _Han Solo...Fine. And Chewbacca (He begged me to mention him as I'm writing this.)_

He looked at the necklace in his other hand as he put the note away back in his pocket. It was beautiful. It practically glowed in the moonlight. He knew it would shine even brighter on Iris. He heard he call to him and approach him and he quickly put it away. He didn't want you to see it yet. "Hey! Why did you run off?" She asks, concern on her features.

"I didn't want to see General Leia yet." Kylo explains.

"Why not?" Iris asks and Kylo sighs. He swore this night he wouldn't lie to you. They were away from the crowd. Maybe now would be a good time to tell her the truth.

"Iris...There's something really important I need to tell you." He explains and Iris tilts her head to the side.

"What is it?" She asks, coming closer to him, taking his hands. He's about to speak but then he senses something and looks up. A bunch of people were dancing by a stage where some people were playing music. Off to the side he saw Luke Skywalker, and to his right was Rey, smiling and gently swaying a little to the music and BB-8 was trilling and swaying with her. Luke looked at her and laughed a bit and smiled.

"Dance with me?" He asks her quickly and she smiles brightly.

"Yes! I'd love to!" She says and he smiles and quickly brings her to the dance floor as Luke looks where they were, but missed them and then turned his attention to BB-8 rolling around Rey and then trilling when Poe and the others come over to them.

Meanwhile back on the Finalizer Hux walked over to Kylo's room. He knocked on the door and waited for a response. Nothing happened. Hux started to get paler, more than usual. "Ren! Open this door right now!" He barks but no one responds. "Oh no..." He says and uses his key that opened any door and swiped it through the slot and the door opened and Hux stepped into the room. Kylo Ren was nowhere to be seen. An official came trotting up behind him.

"Sir I need to report some suspicious activity to you." He says.

"What is it?" Hux groans and puts his hand to his forehead.

"There was an unconscious pilot found at one of the TIE fighter terminals. The TIE fighter was out on patrol but the others have returned and this one has not." The Official says and Hux balls his fists.

"Gather the Storm Troopers. We are going down to Yavin IV immediately." He says and the Official salutes him.

"Yes sir." He says and turns and leaves to carry out the order.

Meanwhile back on Yavin IV a slow song started playing and Ben blushed. He had never been a good dancer and he was worried Iris might not like that. "Do you know how to slow dance?" She asks him and he blushes and shakes his head. She smiles and takes one of his big hands and places it on her small waist. It still amazed him how delicate she was. He was afraid that he might break her, he worried about controlling his strength. She put her hand on his shoulder and took his other hand and brought herself in close to him, their faces were barely separated. Some people would give Kylo strange looks because of his scar and they would think that he's ugly and mutter things about how Iris is so beautiful and she's dancing with a man so hideous but both of them ignored those comments. They didn't care, not as long as they were in each other's arms. They moved together as one, as if their minds were connected. He even spun her around a bit making her giggle, which caught Leia's attention.

Leia's heart rate sped up and she gasped softly at what she saw and covered her mouth as tears started to slide down her cheeks. That was her son. She felt so sorry that he had that awful scar but she didn't care what he looked like, he was wearing his father's old clothes and he looked so much like him. And he was smiling, and dancing and with a girl. A beautiful girl that Leia had always liked. And it looked like he liked her too. She had to be imagining things. But she wasn't. She was staring right at it. And she could feel it. Ben Solo was not destroyed. He was alive, and breathing, and...in love. She could feel that too, and she could tell by the way they looked at each other that her son was sweet on Iris. And she couldn't be more happy. The song played on and the lyrics fit Kylo and Iris perfectly. _I found love, where it wasn't supposed to be, right in front of me._

Kylo looked into Iris's eyes and he saw something he had not seen in a long time. Love. _Can it be?_ He thought and stared back into her gaze. He had only seen his parents and Luke give him this look. And even then it wasn't as strong as Iris's right now. _Does she really love me?_ He wonders and he rests his forehead on hers. He loved the feeling of her skin against his. So soft and warm, and comforting. His heart had never been pounding so hard, he had never been so happy. He was in love. There was no doubt about it. And he loved it. He loved her. And that's why he needed to tell her the truth. Part of him didn't want to tell her, part of him wanted to hide out here on Yavin IV with her forever and never tell her who he really is. But he knew that was not an option. No matter how much he loved her he couldn't escape the First Order or the Dark Side. Snoke told him that on the Dark Side he could have everything. But now he knew that was a lie. Because if he really could have everything he wanted he would be able to have her. But Snoke would not allow that. Iris's nose brushed against his, pulling him from his thoughts. He saw her closing her eyes and leaning into him, her breath was on his lips. His heart was beating fast and he spoke. "Iris." He says and she looks at him with her vibrant blue eyes.

"Yes Ben?" She asks lovingly.

"I need to tell you something." He starts and looks around. "In private." He says and Iris looks confused but nods and lets Kylo lead her off somewhere.

Meanwhile Leia's removed her hands from her face and she stared at her son and Iris as they left the dance floor. "Is something wrong Leia?" Rey asks and appears beside her.

"I just saw my son." She says happily and Luke, Poe, BB-8, Finn, and Rey all freeze.

"You mean Kylo Ren?" Poe asks and Leia nods. Luke gets his lightsaber ready.

"Where?" He asks and Rey reaches for her new training saber. Leia notices this and shakes her head.

"You don't need to get your weapons ready we're all fine. He was wearing his father's old clothes. The ones we gave him before he left to train with you." Leia tells Luke and he looks confused. "He's not Kylo Ren any more! He's Ben! He's my Ben. He's come back!"

"What are you talking about?" Finn asks.

"He was dancing with Iris just a few moments ago." Leia says and Poe's eyes widen.

"What?!" He exclaims and reaches for his blaster at his side. "What the hell does that bastard want with my sister?" He asks.

"Remember that's my son you're talking about young man." She reminds him.

"No offense." Poe quickly adds. "And to think I shook that jerk's hand and gave him my blessing." He mutters. "He has a scar on his face?" He asks Rey and she nods.

"I gave it to him." She says and Poe holds his hand up. She looks confused.

"You're supposed to hit it." He explains and she taps it lightly.

"We'll work on that." Poe says.

"Where did they go?" Finn asks, surveying the dance floor with Poe.

"I don't know." Leia says and looks over the festival.

You and Kylo Ren ran down the jungle path from the village. "Slow down Ben!" You laugh then notice that he's not laughing. "What's wrong?" You ask and then he slows down and walks. You catch up to him.

"You're about to find out." He says and removes some of the foliage he used to cover up the TIE fighter and Iris gasps when it's revealed.

"How did that get here!" She asks and Kylo looks at her with a sorrowful expression.

"I flew it here." He starts to explain.

"How? Where did you get it?" Iris asks and he takes her face in his hands.

"I took it from the ship I command. The Finalizer." He says and she takes a step back. He could see the growing fear in her eyes. "I'm the Commander of the First Order. I'm Kylo Ren." She gasped and covered her mouth and moved away from him.

"No. No. No you can't be!" She exclaims and tears flow from her eyes. You're so nice! And sweet!"

"I'm a monster Iris." Kylo tells her, feeling himself start to cry too.

"But you're not! You're not wearing all black! You don't wear a mask." She gestures to his current appearance. "You're a man. A man I love." She says and Kylo's eyes water more.

"You love me?" He asks and takes a step towards her. She doesn't say anything.

"What proof do you have that you are who you say you are?" She asks and he goes into the TIE fighter and comes back out carrying his helmet. Iris stares at it and she knew that there was no denying it. She recognized the mask from her brother's descriptions and the Resistance files she had seen. "So you are Kylo Ren." She says.

"I'm also Ben Solo." He says and she looks at him. "Everything that happened since the day I met you was real Iris. I've never felt this way about anyone. I never thought I would care so much about a person as I do about you. Tonight I haven't lied to you at all. Everything I've said to you is true because I can't lie to the woman I love." He says and the tears slide down her cheeks. "I'm a Sith Lord, the Commander of the First Order, I've killed billions of people including my own father and I love you." He says and starts to sob a bit himself. "I went back to the Finalizer today because my mission was cancelled. That's the original reason I was here. To spy on the families of the Resistance and gain information. But after I met you I forgot all about that. You've done something to me that few people have been able to do. You've pulled me back towards the Light. You've shown me what it's like to be happy. And I love it. I see what I'm missing out on on the Dark Side and I want it. I want you. Do you want me too?" He asks and takes a deep breath. "Do I have a chance?" He asks.

"Ben Solo has a chance..." Iris says softly and Kylo drops his helmet and Iris gasps.

"Then keep calling me Ben." He says and she smiles and runs into his arms and then neither of them hesitate. He spins her around and his lips lock with hers. It was better than anything he had ever imagined. Her lips were so soft and sweet. He had never kissed a girl before, but somehow with her he knew what to do. Even though his lips were bigger than hers it was like they fit together, like they were made for each other. The two of them became unaware of anything that was going on around them. "I have something for you." He says after they break for air and he sets her down and pulls the necklace out of his pocket and holds it out for her.

"These are the last remaining gems of Alderaan. My mother wanted me to give them to the woman I love. And Iris, you are the only woman I will ever love, so I want you to have them." He says and Iris tears up but this time in happiness and she picks up her hair and Kylo comes around behind her and puts his arms over her head and rests the gems on her chest and clasps the back behind her neck. He comes back around and looks at her. "So beautiful..." He says and their lips crash together is until a large blast is heard from the direction of the towns and numerous shouts are heard. Iris looks down towards the town, eyes wide with fear.

"Ben what was that?" She asks nervously and he holds her close, a protectiveness over her kicking in.

"A TIE fighter." He says and she looks at him worriedly. "The First Order is here."

"What do we do?" She asks and Kylo looks at her sadly.

"We need to part ways." He says and she shakes her head and holds onto him.

"No! No I'm not leaving your side!" She declares.

"They'll kill you if you don't." He says.

"I don't care! I love you!" She exclaims and hugs him.

"I love you too." He says and tears start to fall down his face. "And that's why I need you to get as far away from me as possible. Go to Luke Skywalker. He's been training Rey to be a Jedi, he can teach you too. He's powerful and so is she. Both of them can protect you and train you to fight and protect yourself."

"Why can't you come too?" She asks sadly.

"Because I'm a Sith Lord. We're on different sides I can't come with you." He explains and she starts to cry so he wraps her in another embrace and shushes her and wipes her tears. "Please don't cry. I don't want to leave you but I have no choice. I'd rather have you happy and safe away from me than in danger and miserable with me."

"But I wouldn't be miserable I would be with you!" She says. "And I wouldn't be in danger you would protect me! Wouldn't you?"

"I would do everything I could to keep you safe in the First Order but that wouldn't be enough. The Supreme Leader wouldn't allow me to keep you. He would kill you the second he finds out about you. You can't be with me Iris. There's no way around it." He says sadly. She sighs and rests her head on his chest.

"I'll go to Luke. But only if you promise me you'll come find me and we can find some way to be together." She says and Kylo holds her tighter.

"I promise." He says and she looks up at him and smiles.

"Do one more thing for me?" She asks.

"Yes. Anything." He says. She reaches around her neck and pulls something over her head. It was a very thin necklace chain.

"Since we're exchanging necklaces." She says. "Keep this, as a reminder of me. Of your promise." She places it in his hand and he holds it to his heart.

"Not a day will go by when I don't try to find a way to get to you. Or think about you." He promises and she throws her arms around him and the two of them kiss again, passionately since there was a chance it could be their last, so they both had to drink it in, savor it. "I love you." He whispers on her lips when they break for air.

"I know." She says and slowly starts to back away from him. She holds his gaze for as long as she can before turning and disappearing into the jungle to find Luke Skywalker. Kylo opens up his hand and is amazed to see a purple Force crystal in his hand. He looks up at the place she disappeared. "I will find you." He says and looks back down at the crystal. "I will always find you."

* * *

Stole that last little line there from Once Upon a Time. I hope you all liked this chapter. The plot completely shifts at this point! We will not be on Yavin IV in the next chapters! I'm really excited and I hope all of you are too! Stay tuned :) The song they were listening too while they were dancing is called _I Found_ by Amber Run in case you want to look it up.


	7. Life Without You

Iris walked through the halls of the new Resistance base, deep in thought. It had been about a month now since the battle on Yavin IV, and Luke had taken her on as a new student with Rey. They had been training on the same planet as the new Resistance base. During the battle Luke and Rey had jumped into action and now the First Order knew that Luke had returned, so there was no point in trying to hide any more. Luke, Rey and Iris had now officially joined the Resistance, and were training to fight the First Order. Iris shuddered at the thought. She didn't like to fight, especially against people she cared about. She looked out of one of the windows and saw her brother and BB-8 working with some other pilots to set up hangars for the X-Wings and other equipment. She thought about what happened that night on Yavin IV.

After leaving Ben she ran through the jungle as fast as she could. She didn't take the path, it would have been too dangerous to take it, TIE fighters were patrolling it to see if anyone was trying to leave. She looked up and saw some X-Wings flying to meet them. A battle was beginning. She had to find her parents. When she reached the town she was scarred by what she saw. Half of the village was in flames and there were people trying to flee it but the Storm Troopers caught them before they could escape. And those that made it to the jungle ended up getting burned as the fire spread from the village to the jungle trees. She had to find her parents. She found an opening in an alley and ran into it. She peeked out from around the corners and looked around, trying to find her parents in all the chaos. She locked eyes with a Storm Trooper and ducked before it shot her and she hid behind the stands and barrels and made her way along the edge of the village square. Suddenly she heard two lightsabers get turned on and she looked up and saw Luke and Rey skillfully slicing and stabbing Storm Troopers while Resistance members shot them and others helped the villagers get to safety. Some shuttles from the Resistance were docking in the clear areas and people were being ushered onto them to be transported somewhere safe.

Iris saw her parents being cornered by Storm Troopers, they were getting ready to fire but there was no one near them to help them. She knew what she had to do. She stood up from her hiding place and gathered the Force in her hands and shot it at the Storm Troopers. As soon as her arm went out they all flew away from her parents. Some into burning buildings, others on the ground. Now she had been noticed. Other troopers left helpless citizens alone and went to meet this new threat that was attacking them. They shot at her but Iris deflected their blasts. She worked on gathering up as much Force energy as she could. Soon she could see it, a bunch of white wisps starting to surround her, absorbing the blasts from the Storm Troopers guns. One by one she sent off little wisps around the square as she created them to different troopers that were close to hurting people. Soon the square was full of little wisps knocking away the troopers into the blast of a Resistance gun, or to Rey or Luke to kill with their lightsabers. Now the battle had started to turn to their favor. Iris made her way over to Luke and Rey, knocking troopers out of her way with the Force as she went.

"How did you do that!" Rey called to her as she and Luke stood back to back killing and deflecting troopers as they approached.

"The Force!" Iris replies.

"That's not how the Force works!" Luke calls to her and stabs a trooper straight through the chest. "I've never seen a Jedi or Sith that can do that!"

"Well to be fair none have us have met many Jedi or Sith!" Iris yells back. "There's not as many as there used to be!"

Rey killed the last Storm Trooper and then there was a lull. "Are you on our side?" Rey asks and Iris nods.

"I'm on the Light Side of the Force." She says and Luke looks at her thoughtfully. "I'd like to train with you. If you'll have me..." Luke smiles.

"I'd be happy to take on another student." He says and you smile and hug him.

"Thank you so much! I promise I won't let you down!" You say and he laughs.

"You're welcome. Rey could use a training partner, and a friend. The Force knows she'll probably get bored spending all her time with me soon." He explains and Rey laughs. More Storm Troopers started to approach them and they got into position to fight them off. Then Iris saw something behind them, off to the side. Ben Solo, no, this wasn't her Ben. This was Kylo Ren. He wore his Sith Robes and helmet, his black hood concealing him even more. So this was the monster everyone is so afraid of? She could see how he would be intimidating but she thought differently of him since she had seen the man underneath the helmet. She had befriended him, laughed with him, danced with him, embraced him, kissed him, and promised him her heart. How could he be so evil? She could sense his confliction as he looked around the village and saw it burning. He felt guilty about what he did. He didn't get a chance to brood long because Rey let out a cry and charged at him and soon Kylo had his saber ready and the two of them started fighting.

"Rey!" She called out to her and ran after her, Luke also in pursuit. Rey was really letting Kylo have it.

"What did you want with Iris!" Rey yells at him as their sabers clash. "Leia saw you with her! What were you trying to do! Steal her thoughts and kill her after?" Kylo used the Force and knocked Rey to the ground.

"I would never hurt her!" He bellows and her heart flutters for a moment but then it freezes when he swings his saber down near Rey.

"No!" She calls out to him and he stops mid-swing. His eyes lock with hers. Luke looked between the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on but then Rey sneaks under Kylo and stabs his leg. It would leave another nasty burn. Kylo cried out in pain and held his thigh. "Rey stop!" Iris calls to her just as she's about to chop off his head. She looks at her, breathing heavily, her eyes filled with anger.

"Why shouldn't I?" She asks Iris. "He manipulated you! He killed Han Solo! Why shouldn't I slay the beast." She spits at him and all three of them look at you.

"Because there's still light in him." She says.

"How do you know?" Rey asks.

"I've seen it." Iris says, tears in her eyes. Luke looks at the necklace on her breast and then he knows.

"Leave it for another day Rey. Unlike the Sith, Jedi show mercy." Luke says and he looks at Iris and Kylo carefully. He saw how Kylo looked at her longingly, even with the mask on he could tell that he must have tears in his eyes behind the mask. It was the same expression Iris had when she looked at him. He saw her lean forward a bit and thought that she would approach the Sith Lord. Kylo's arms started to move a bit as if he was going to hold his arms out to her to accept her. But Luke quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her away, breaking the trance. It was a bit sudden and forceful for the delicate girl, she winced from the slight pain. This triggered something in Kylo like it did that night when Daron grabbed Iris. Kylo Force pushed Luke away and he let go of Iris's arm and fell backwards before getting back up, his lightsaber turned on and ready to fight.

"Ben it's okay he didn't hurt me!" Iris pleads to him and holds out her hands to him to keep him from advancing to Luke. The two men stared at each other, and a sort of understanding seems to pass between them. Luke takes Iris's arm again, gentler this time and they slowly back away from Kylo Ren and towards a shuttle to take them off of the planet. Her gaze only broke from his when she had to run onto the shuttle. Then she turned around and their eyes locked again even though they were on opposite sides of the square. That same longing resurfaced and Kylo took a hesitant step forward, only to be separated from Iris when the doors slid shut. But she saw it, and that's how she knew he still loved her.

She sighed and sat down on a cushion by the window and looked at the gems around her neck. They glittered in the sunlight, and made white reflective mosaic patterns on the walls. She heard hurried footsteps approaching. Iris turned and smiled to see Rey running towards her, a big smile on her face. "Where have you been!?" She asks and sits down on the cushion next to her. "You're missing out on all the fun! The pilots have been doing X-Wing tricks and I taught BB-8 a few more tricks." She says and then her smile fell. "You're always so happy during training. Why don't you go outside anymore?" Iris smiled sadly at her and looked down at her necklace.

"It's a long story Rey. I'll come out later tonight to play games with you, Finn and the other pilots I promise." She says and gives Rey a reassuring smile and then hugs her. The two girls had bonded over the course of the month they had trained with Luke. Iris had become a big sister to Rey and Iris loved her cheerful smile and eagerness to learn new things about the Force. Rey smiled at her and ran off down the hall, BB-8 trilling and rolling close behind her. They were adorable. Soon Iris was pulled from her thoughts again as R2-D2 came screaming down the hall and hit the wall next to the window seat she was sitting on, letting out a few annoyed beeps and shaking his head.

"Oh R2!" Leia says and comes running after the droid, kneeling down beside it and fiddling with some dials. He beeped at her. "Well that's what you get when you run away from me before I finish updating your software!" Leia scolds the droid and she turns to Iris and she blushes and Leia smiles at her and then does a double take when she sees what's around her neck. "Is that my..." She starts and gently reaches out and touches the gems. "It is..." She says and tears up and looks at Iris. "The last gems of Alderaan...And more importantly...The last thing I gave my son before I sent him to train with Luke." She says and stands up and sits down on the window seat next to Iris, holding her hands. "The necklace Han and I told him to give to his true love." Iris was blushing horribly and her heart was pounding just like it had on her last night on Yavin IV a month ago.

"His true love?" She squeaks out and Leia nods.

"He gave this to you didn't he?" She asks and Iris nods.

"Yes. He did. After he told me that he was Kylo Ren." Iris explains and Leia sighs and looks out the window. "And I told him that I still loved him and kissed him." Leia whips her head back towards her and she covers her mouth with her hand and her eyes light up with joy and she hugs her.

"Oh my stars." Leia sobs and holds onto her tightly. Iris didn't know what was going on but she hugged Leia back, feeling like she needed it. "So there is still hope." She says after pulling away from Iris and wiping away a few tears.

"Hope for what?" Iris asks her, feeling a bit confused.

"For my son to come back to the Light." She explains.

"But he killed his father." Iris tells her. "That sealed his fate on the Dark Side. He can't come back now?" Iris thinks out loud. "Can he?"

"Yes he can. Because of you." Leia explains and Iris's heart starts to fill with hope.

"When he told me that he was Kylo Ren he asked me if there was still a chance I could love him." She starts to explain. "I told him Ben Solo has a chance. So he told me to keep calling him Ben." Leia gasps and hugs Iris again. R2-D2 beeps in shock.

"I knew it!" She says. "I knew there was still Light in him! And now with your help we can bring him back home."

"But we don't know where he is." Iris explains. "He told me he couldn't escape the First Order, he's still Kylo Ren. He let me go." She adds sadly and Leia takes her hand and wipes away a tear that rolled down Iris's cheek.

"He let you go to protect you." Leia explains. "He's uncovered a part of himself to you that no one, not even I have seen. He's shown you the part of himself that is vulnerable and unsure of what to do. Snoke took advantage of him like that and led him on a path to darkness. You however have shown him a different path, a path to the Light."

"But in the end he still let me go, and chose the Dark Side." Iris explains and Leia scoffs.

"Why are you being so negative?" She asks. "You love him, why do you think that there is no hope for him to be with you?"

"I want to believe it General." Iris explains. "I really do. But Luke has told me the facts. Kylo Ren killed his own father and extinguished any Light that was in him. And now he's back with the First Order and I'll never see him again. I may have been able to pull him back for a few days but in the end he chose the Dark Side over me. It's too late."

"Then why did he tell you to keep calling him Ben?" Leia explains and then something clicks inside of Iris and she looks to Leia to explain it to her. "When he killed Han he extinguished all the Light that was still in him when he first became Kylo Ren. He was completely submerged in the darkness now, no strings attached, nothing left for him on the Light Side."

"What about you?" Iris asks and Leia shakes her head.

"I never had the relationship with him that Han did." She says. "I was always too busy to take care of him. I used to let him hang out with the woman that cooked meals for me and Han. He probably thought of her as more of a mother to him than me." She says sadly and Iris places her hand on Leia's shoulder. "When I found out Snoke had been influencing him I didn't have a strong enough connection with Ben to keep him from going to the Dark Side. I thought Luke would be able to get to him because he's powerful but apparently not even that stopped Snoke. No one could get through to Ben and stop Kylo Ren from happening. Until you." Leia says and Iris blushes a bit. "You met him when he was completely committed to the Dark Side, when Snoke's influence was the most powerful on him and yet somehow you broke their connection. You blocked out Snoke and got through to him! Iris, when you met him you took away Snoke's influence and left him alone to his own thoughts and decisions and lit a spark, that over those past few days grew into a flame. A small one, but still a little light that blocked out his darkness. He's allowed himself to be tethered to the Light again, Ben wants to come home! He let you go because he's still unsure of his fate and Snoke still has a strong influence on him. He doesn't want to end up killing you, he would want you to stay away from the First Order." Leia thought for a moment. "So why would he send you to the Resistance? He knows he would meet you in battle if you came with us..."

"He told me to go to Luke." Iris explains. "He didn't say anything about the Resistance. He must have thought we would be on some isolated island, away from the First Order and the Resistance." Leia's eyes widen.

"So he does want you to stay away. So he doesn't have to kill you." Leia says. "You're his light Iris. He wants to keep you safe and away from the First Order so he doesn't have to kill you. So he can still have hope that he can be happy." Iris started to tear up and Leia gently touched the gems on the necklace. "He's given you this as a symbol of the light within him, and how it's connected to the love he has for you. As long as you're alive and he loves you there's hope."

"He still loves me." Iris says and closes her eyes and touches the necklace and smiles. "I can feel it." Leia smiles.

"Do you still love him?" Leia asks and Iris blushes and nods.

"My heart is still filled with mixed feelings because of the fact that he's Kylo Ren. But that love for him is still there. I don't think I'll ever stop loving him." Iris explains and Leia smiles.

"Then we'll have to find a way to pull him back." Leia says.

"He promised he would find me again someday." Iris says.

"Then we will have to see to it that he does." She answers and holds Iris's hand tightly. "And make sure that this time, he gets pulled back to the Light, instead of further into the darkness."

Meanwhile on the Finalizer Kylo Ren is in the Command Center and about to get an update from his staff that they haven't found any clues about where the Resistance may have gone after the attack on Yavin IV. The Resistance didn't try to defeat them this time. They didn't have enough men to defeat all of the First Order's forces. They were more concerned with protecting their loved ones, so all they did was hold off the First Order's attacks and escape the planet through hyper speed to another system somewhere in the Galaxy. And now the First Order was trying to figure out where. Surprisingly Kylo didn't act too upset that they hadn't found anything yet. Usually when he was presented with a lack of information he would throw a tantrum and destroy some consoles but this time it was different. A Lieutenant approached him. "Sir." He coughs and Kylo turns to face the man, his data pad trembling in his hand. "We have not found any information about the location of the Resistance." He says quickly and then cowers and covers his head with his arms. Everyone braced for the sparks to come flying out of the nearby console. But they never came.

"Very well. Keep working. Report to me when you find something." He says and everyone looks at him, eyes wide in surprise. General Hux, who was working below him looked up to his Commander on the balcony and squinted his eyes at him suspiciously. "What are you all looking at!" Kylo shouts to all the people who were staring at him and they all quickly turned around and got back to work as the Knight stormed past them and exited the Command Center, Hux watching him with a curious expression the entire time.

Kylo didn't want them to find the Resistance any time soon. He knew that once they found them they would find Luke, which means they would find Iris. And he would be forced to kill her again. The thought made his heart break. He didn't want to lose her. He wanted to be with her. He wished that Snoke would let him be with her but he knew that wasn't possible. Jedi weren't supposed to have any attachments because it could lead them to the Dark. And Sith weren't supposed to have any attachments because it led to weakness, and the Light. But Iris was one attachment he wanted to keep. But he could never see her. No matter what side he was on he wouldn't be able to be with her and that made him mad at himself. He stormed into his quarters and took off his mask and threw it against the wall with a growl of frustration. "Why do I have to have these powers!" He exclaims and punches a wall, hurting his hand but he didn't mind the pain. He was feeling much worse internally. "Why can't I just be normal, and live a peaceful life on an isolated planet somewhere where there's no pain. No abandonment. Just me and Iris, and nothing keeping us apart." He mutters and buries his face in his palm. Then he hears a meow from the doorway. He picks up his head and sees an orange tabby cat stare at him and walk into his room, coming to rub itself on his leg. "What are you doing here Millicent? Shouldn't you be with Hux?" He asks and moves his leg away from the General's cat. For some reason Millicent liked to be around him. He had no idea why. Kylo thought that everything living hated him, except for those with the First Order. Maybe that's why the cat liked him? Because it was a First Order cat. But it hadn't been born here. Hux found her when she was a kitten when they were raiding a village and wanted to keep her as a pet. He had no idea why and never bothered to ask. But the cat had imprinted itself on him just as much as it had on Hux. Maybe it was because- Kylo realized then what the cat wanted and he smiled at her. "You want more bird don't you?" He asks and the cat meows and stretches up on his legs, her claws getting caught on his robe a bit but he didn't care. He took it off and laid it on his black leather chair in front of his grandfather's helmet and made his way over to another door. "I'm surprised you remember that I gave you some when you first came. You were only a kitten, and it was four years ago. Sure I slip you a little something now and then but I had no idea you would remember that and follow me." He says and opens the door and steps into a kitchen, Millicent following. Kylo opened one of the steel fridge doors and took out a skinned bird of some sort that looked like a chicken. "Lucky for you I was planning on cooking this today." He tells Millicent and she sits down patiently by the island of the kitchen while Kylo got out the pan and other things he would need to cook the chicken. It was really simple, all he had to do was season it and bake it. He used a basting brush to cover it in butter, and then he sprinkled salt, pepper and some thyme all over it. Millicent meowed and stretched up on him. "Sorry Millicent. You'll have to wait an hour." He says as he brings the chicken over to the stainless steel oven and puts it in, setting the timer for an hour.

Kylo got to work on some other things like making a salad to go with his chicken. As he got out some spinach he thought about that first morning on Yavin IV when he was pretending to chop vegetables horribly. He didn't want Iris to know that he knew how to cook. She would ask him to make him something and probably hate it. He always thought the stuff he made tasted fine but he thought that because he was a Sith Lord his tastes would be different from everybody else's and that they wouldn't like his food. Besides it's not like he had anyone to share the food he made with anyway. Aside from Millicent. He heard someone open the door and he quickly ran out of the kitchen and shut the door so no one saw what was going on in there. Hux had come into his room. "Have you seen Millicent?" He asks Kylo in an annoyed tone. Millicent meowed from behind Kylo. "Come here Millie." Hux coos and holds out his arms for the cat. She comes trotting over and jumps into Hux's arms. "Good kitty." He says and narrows his eyes at Kylo. "What were you doing in that room with her?" He asks and Kylo rolls his eyes.

"Nothing." He answers.

"Really?" Hux persists. "Nothing?" He says and steps closer to the door. "What's in that room I wonder?"

"None of your business." Kylo replies coldly.

"You had my cat in there with you clearly it is my business." Hux retorts and sniffs the air. "Do I smell chicken cooking?"

"It's probably the cook downstairs making my dinner." Kylo says.

"I doubt it. The food they serve us doesn't smell anything like that." Hux says in an exaggerated tone. Kylo felt his stomach drop. Hux's tone suggested that he hated the smell coming from his kitchen. People really would hate his cooking. "Just stay away from my cat. If you've done anything to her you will pay for it." He says and points a finger in Kylo's face.

"I don't want anything to do with your stupid cat anyway." Kylo says and Millicent meows at him. She looks at Kylo with a hurt expression on her face. For some reason Kylo felt bad for hurting her feelings, even though she was just an animal and probably had no idea what he was saying. Or did she understand him?

"You shocked quite a lot of people in the Command Center today." Hux informs Kylo and pets Millicent.

"Did I now?" He asks.

"Yes. Given your usual behavior I suspected that you would have destroyed half of the consoles on the bridge. But you handled yourself so calmly this time. I'm very surprised. And so was everyone else. If you keep up this behavior they'll think you've gone soft." Hux says. "I suppose you have in a way. Considering you do have a soft spot for that scrappy pilot's sister Ir-" He was cut off by Kylo Force choking him. Millicent jumped out of Hux's arms and ran out the door.

"You're not worthy enough to even say her name." Kylo says sternly. "But it's over. I've let her go. She's where she belongs." He says. His tone was stern but inside he felt his heart breaking at the words he was saying. "You will not need to worry about my affections for her anymore. I will never see her again." He says and releases Hux and leaves him gasping for air on the floor. "Now I suggest you leave and get back to work, before I need to inform Supreme Leader that you are slacking off." He says and Hux narrows his eyes at him again.

"I don't think you're the best person to be lecturing me about distraction." Hux says. "I can always tell him about your little crush on the Dameron girl. Now which news do you think he'll become the most upset over?" Hux asks and Kylo's jaw sets. "Exactly. Remember where you stand. I'll be watching you." Hux says and leaves.

Kylo sighs and goes back into his kitchen. His got back to work on his salad and soon his chicken was ready. He sat there all alone to himself and thought about Iris, how he would love to share this meal with her, and snuggle on his couch or in bed together afterwards. But he was a Sith Lord, he left all of that behind on Yavin IV. He sighed and took another bite of his chicken. He heard a meow and some scratching on the kitchen door. He goes over to it and opens it up to see Millicent. He smiles and lets her in. He gets a plate and puts some of the chicken on it and gives it to her. "Do you like it?" He asks but she doesn't reply, she only keeps eating. "I'll take that as a yes." He says and pets her, happy to have someone to share his food with.

Meanwhile back on the Resistance Base Iris was with Rey, Finn, and the other pilots watching BB-8 and her brother attempt to set up some fireworks. "Poe you'll hurt yourself!" You warn your brother but the other pilots just laugh and Poe waves her off.

"Relax Iris. I know what I'm doing." He says and BB-8 trills in agreement. "Alright let's light this puppy up!" Poe says and runs back to where the other pilots are with BB-8 rolling behind him. "3,2,1..." He says then hits the button and the fireworks go off but instead of firing straight up in the air they go down the runway and into a tree. Lighting it on fire and some pilots run to it with a fire extinguisher. Iris looks at her brother with her arms crossed. "I guess I just need to fix the stability of the launching pad." He says.

"You think." Rey says.

"You'll keep working on it Poe." Finn says and claps his buddy on the back. "I'm sure you'll have them ready for Luke and Leia's birthday in time."

"Speaking of Leia..." Iris mentions and looks over towards the hangar where the General was running towards them.

"What was that?" Leia asks and looks at Poe.

"Just some testing on the new blasters for the X-wings." Poe lies.

"Alright. Just make sure they don't set the new base on fire." She tells him sternly.

"Yes General." Poe says and salutes to her then runs off with BB-8.

"Iris can I talk to you for a minute?" Leia asks and gently takes her arm and leads her aside from Finn and Rey.

"What is it Leia?" Iris asks when they're alone.

"I've found it!" She says happily.

"What?" Iris asks.

"A way to contact Ben and get you two back together!" Leia says and Iris's heart starts pounding rapidly.

"How?" She asks.

"There's an old abandoned castle far away from this base, practically near the other side of the planet and I'm giving it to Maz, an old friend of Han, Luke and I. Her old cantina got destroyed on Takonda so I thought I would offer her this new one I found. And not only is that place good for her, but it's a secret place that you and Ben can meet!" Leia explains.

"So you want Ben and I to sneak away from the Resistance and the First Order to meet up at a cantina?" Iris asks and Leia nods. "How will we contact him?"

"I'm going to pretend to be a spy for the First Order, and give a tip to Kylo that the Resistance might be hiding out on a planet in this system, then he'll sense your Force signature and sense that you are present nearby and he'll follow it straight to the cantina and into your arms!" Leia says.

"I don't know." Iris says. "It sounds risky. Wherever Kylo goes the First Order will follow. He might end up just attacking this system instead of sneaking away to find me."

"That's a risk we'll have to take." Leia says. "But there is still Light in him. I know it. There has to be hope." She starts to cry and Iris hugs her. "I've lost too many people I love to the Dark Side, I need to know that my son can come back. And you're his only hope." She tells Iris and she sighs and looks at the gems on her breast.

"Okay Leia. Let's do this." Iris says and Leia smiles.

Back on the Finalizer, Kylo was getting ready for bed. He lazily walked out of his bathroom in black pajama pants and got under his silky black sheets on his massive bed. He knew he wouldn't get much sleep tonight because Snoke was bound to send him another nightmare, and without Iris there was no one to stop it from happening. Then he remembered something. He went back into his kitchen and pulled out a little box from one of the cabinets. Inside was the little purple crystal she gave him, as a promise that he would see her again. He gently placed his lips to it and tried to recall what hers felt like. He missed them. He missed her. He put the little silver chain around his neck and went back to bed, holding the crystal in his fist, hoping it would allow him to sleep without any nightmares, if he had this little piece of Iris to keep Snoke and the Dark Side away for the night. It was like a night light. And Iris was his light.


End file.
